Harry Kane and Erling Haaland lock horns in battle of elite World Cup number nines

This duel also brings together two centre-forwards with different styles, but with very similar involvement in the game.

Kane has 19 shots at goal in the World Cup, compared to 18 for Haaland. The two are also almost level in touches per 90 minutes (26 to 25) and appearances in the opposition box (6.1 to 6.0). Even their expected goals are similar (and high), with an xG of 3.4 for the Englishman and 4.3 for the Norwegian.

Haaland more clinical

The difference, in this World Cup, comes down to efficiency. While Kane needs, on average, 74 minutes to score a goal, Haaland finds the net every 51 minutes. The number nine for Norway also hasn't needed any penalties to build his campaign, reinforcing his reputation as a striker who can turn almost any chance into a goal.

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The numbers help explain why Haaland is having a historic World Cup. All four of his goals have been decisive in securing wins for Norway, a feat previously achieved only by Grzegorz Lato in 1974 and Salvatore Schillaci in 1990, in a single edition of the tournament. If he scores again against England, he will also match a record that no European has achieved since Gerd Muller in 1970: scoring in his first five World Cup matches.

However, this run didn't start in the United States. Haaland arrives at the quarter-finals on the back of an impressive streak of 14 consecutive competitive matches scoring for Norway, a period in which he has found the net 27 times.

This run helps explain why the number nine came into the World Cup surrounded by such high expectations and, so far, has lived up to all of them.

Kane not far behind

While Haaland is racing towards history, Kane already has a prominent place in it. With 14 goals, he has become England's all-time top scorer at World Cups, surpassing Gary Lineker, and is also the first Englishman to score six or more times in two different editions of the tournament. In World Cup and Euro knockout matches, his consistency is even more impressive: 11 goals in his last 12 games.

The way each player scores also highlights their different characteristics. Kane has spread his goals between right-footed finishes, headers and penalties, always inside the box. Haaland, meanwhile, has shown an even wider range: scoring with both feet, with his head, from outside the area and without relying on penalties, confirming his reputation as a striker who can make the difference in any situation.

Head-to-head record

Despite sharing the status of the world's top number nines, the two have never faced each other for their national teams. Their only meetings came in the Premier League, in the 2022/23 season. Each came out on top once - and each got on the scoresheet. Now, for the first time, the clash is for a place among the world's top four.

The last England v Norway match was 12 years ago and ended in an English victory thanks to a goal from Wayne Rooney, then the country's biggest star. This Saturday, the script is different. 

Rooney has passed the baton to Kane, while Haaland has built his own legacy on the other side. Now we wait to see which of the two will write the next chapter in this battle between the greatest centre-forwards playing today.