Odegaard warns England that Premier League familiarity cuts both ways ahead of World Cup quarter-final

Martin Odegaard has told England that Norway’s deep familiarity with the Premier League’s best players is a weapon his side intend to use when the two nations meet in the World Cup quarter-finals in Miami on Saturday.

The Arsenal captain, who faces several club teammates and domestic rivals in the fixture, said the Scandinavians have been studying their opponents closely — and that the knowledge runs both ways. “Obviously we know the quality they have. I know them really well,” Odegaard said ahead of the match. “Outstanding players, world-class players, playing for probably one of the best national teams in the world at the moment, so it’s going to be a big test for us.”

Norway arrive in the last eight as underdogs once again, having already knocked out Brazil in the previous round. Odegaard drew on that upset as evidence that his side should not be underestimated. “I think Brazil was the same. We were the underdogs and, as you saw, anything can happen in football, so we’re going to give it a good try.”

The Norway captain was careful to frame the familiarity as a team-wide asset rather than a personal one. “A lot of us play in England, so we know them quite well. Obviously, we’ve been playing against a lot of these players in the league, so we know them — but it’s about the whole team. We have to be prepared, we have to analyse the opponent like we always do and we have to have the belief in ourselves.”

Erling Haaland looms as the most obvious threat to England’s progress. The Manchester City striker has scored seven goals in the tournament so far, including two in the win over Brazil, making him one of the standout performers of the competition in what is his debut World Cup.

Norway qualified from their group in second place behind France before defeating Ivory Coast and then Brazil to reach the quarter-finals. The winners of Saturday’s tie will advance to Wednesday’s semi-final in Atlanta, where they will face either Argentina or Switzerland.