England came away as 2-1 winners over Norway in their World Cup quarter-final, with Erling Haaland having a surprisingly quiet evening08:24, 13 Jul 2026Norway team doctor Ola Sand has denied that Erling Haaland was unwell in the build-up to the England game, issuing a blunt response to the rumours. The two teams met in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday night, with the Three Lions coming out as 2-1 winners after extra time.‌The match was billed as Harry Kane vs Haaland, but neither striker got on the scoresheet. It was Jude Bellingham who stole the show; his brace in the first half of normal time and extra time was enough to overcome a first-half opener from Andreas Schjelderup.‌Overall, Haaland was kept quiet by the England defence, and was surprisingly substituted at half-time of extra time with Norway needing a goal. It led to suggestions that there may have been an underlying factor.‌JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football's Facebook pageTalkSPORT pundit Tony Cascarino has revealed a message he received at half-time, claiming that Haaland had been unwell. "I was told last night, I got a message at half-time that apparently Erling Haaland wasn't well,” he said on the radio station’s World Cup Weekender show on Sunday."He was another one who was suffering from a sickness. So, obviously the manager has alluded to it saying fitness issues, and he clearly didn't look right. He's come off, and he didn't say an injury.‌“So I presume it was exactly what I just said. He suffered from not being well."He was unwell, yeah. He was unwell prior to the game,” he added. "He doesn't touch the ball a lot anyway but I was surprised about how much energy he lacked as well."Him and [Alexander]Sorloth both looked like they didn't have the sort of drive and he looked absolutely…‌"I just looked at him afterwards and thought, well, what I'd heard in half-time - I'm saying I know it from somebody who would know that - he was meant to be [sick], he wasn't well."However, when asked by Norwegian outlet Dagbladet about the claims, team doctor Sand simply responded with: “No.”‌In the build-up to the game, there were concerns about illness in the Norway squad, with Jorgen Strand Larsen and Marcus Holmgren Pedersen among those suffering from a slight cough and fever, though that was put down to the air conditioning.In the England camp, it was revealed that key midfielder Declan Rice had been suffering from a sickness bug as the team prepared for the game. He was named in the starting XI, but played the first 45 minutes before being taken off at half-time.Speaking after the game, Thomas Tuchel revealed that the Arsenal man had spent the days leading up to the game in bed.‌Explaining the changes made at half time that saw Eberechi Eze replace Rice and Bukayo Saka replace Noni Madueke, he said: I”t's about being closer to your opponent's box, so we put in Ebs and Bukayo [Saka] and that meant we had to take Dec or Elliot [Anderson] out."Knowing that Declan struggles after the last three days, he was most of the time in bed, I knew he could not survive the 90 minutes."I also knew there was the possibility of 120 so I didn't want to waste another change so I made the decision to take Declan out to avoid another change further on."Article continues belowEngland will hope that Rice is recovered enough in time to start the semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday night. The game takes place in Atlanta’s air-conditioned stadium at 8pm on Wednesday night.Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!Content cannot be displayed without consent