Rogers admits England cannot stop Haaland but vows to cut off his supply against Norway

Morgan Rogers has conceded that nobody truly stops Erling Haaland, but the England midfielder insists the Three Lions can limit the damage by disrupting Norway’s supply lines ahead of their World Cup 2026 qualifier in Miami.

“Has anyone ever stopped Erling Haaland? I’m not sure they have, but we are going to have to try,” the 23-year-old Aston Villa man said. Rogers acknowledged the scale of the challenge posed by the Manchester City striker, describing him as “such an unbelievable player” whose goal-scoring numbers leave opponents “in awe.”

Rather than attempting to mark Haaland out of the game directly, Rogers outlined a collective approach. “We’re going to have to maybe try and stop how they play and work on those things — stop how the balls go into him and how he gets his chances, because he’s so deadly in front of goal,” he said. Notably, Haaland has failed to score in his last four appearances against Rogers’ club side Aston Villa, though Rogers was careful not to suggest that offered any particular blueprint.

The midfielder was also keen to broaden England’s focus beyond their most famous opponent. “It’s not just him. They’ve got other good players as well that we play against regularly in the Premier League that we need to be mindful of. They’re a really good team — that’s what their biggest super strength is, that as a team, as a unit, they’re so strong.”

With England progressing deep into the tournament, Rogers admitted it is impossible not to look ahead. “We’re human and you can’t help think that every game win is a step closer to the end goal,” he said, “but at the same time if you take your eye off the ball for any second, that’s where you can get punished.”

He described how the squad has broken the competition into stages to keep their focus sharp. “We’re all aligned, we’re all on the same page of attacking each game in the best way possible. We’re all human and we’re all excited — as we should be.”