World Cup: Ancelotti talks about Erling Haaland’s threat ahead of Brazil-Norway showdown
By Luke Oluoch, July 5, 2026Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti has insisted that the Selecao will not come up with a special plan to stop Norwegian hitman Erling Haaland as the two nations face off in the World Cup round of 16 encounter this Monday, July 6, 2026.
Speaking ahead of the 11:00 pm encounter, the Italian stated it will take a collective defensive effort to shut down the Manchester City striker rather than leaving the task to Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes, who has faced the Norwegian multiple times in the English Premier League.
Anti-Haaland plan?
“I do not think that there is such a thing as an ‘anti-Haaland’ plan. I don’t need to tell my players how to defend; they have faced each other a few times.
“Our team is in an optimal condition. However, we need to continue improving.”
Everyone knows how he (Haaland) works. I have nothing to explain to my defenders about how to play against him. They have obviously played against him several times, so we are only focused on being well prepared for the match and understanding the basic characteristics of the opponent, and we know that they are very dangerous offensively,” he explained.
Battle for the quarterfinal slot
The clash at MetLife Stadium will see the two battle out for a place in the World Cup quarter-finals. The five-time champions are the odds’ favourite in the clash but will need to be at their best after rallying to edge Japan 2-1 via a stoppage-time winner from Gabriel Martinelli in the round of 32.
“Norway is a challenging team, a team that has structure, has very good organisation, so we have to play at our best level, but I think we are at a time when we can play at our best level, because we are confident and have come out of a challenging last match against Japan,” he added.
On his part, Norway coach Stale Solbakken acknowledged that his team will have to be at their absolute best to stand any chance of toppling the South Americans, whom he described as the favourites heading into the clash.
“Brazil are favourites, of course they are, but we are hopeful that we will give them a match—and we must be at our very, very best, otherwise we don’t have a chance,” he said.
Brazil looks to welcome back Barcelona forward Raphinha following a thigh injury but will be without midfielder Lucas Paqueta, who suffered a hamstring problem against Japan.