Manchester City defenders Marc Guehi and Nico O'Reilly may have more than Erling Haaland to worry about when England play Norway
Marc Guehi of England reacts with Nico O'Reilly
Marc Guehi of England reacts with Nico O'Reilly (Image: 2026 Chris Brunskill/Fantasista)
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Marc Guehi and Nico O'Reilly are among the Manchester City players living their dream at the World Cup. The pair are part of England's bid for glory with Thomas Tuchel's side hoping to beat Norway on Saturday to reach the semi-final.
O'Reilly and Guehi both started the frenetic 3-2 win over Mexico and both saw yellow in the drama of the Azteca within the space of five second-half minutes. Mexico wanted a red card for the City left-back for a potential elbow, and while the referee only deemed it worthy of a yellow O'Reilly was substituted immediately afterwards.
FIFA changed the rules for cumulative yellow cards for the 2026 World Cup to reflect the fact that there were going to be 48 teams for the first time.
All bookings were wiped out after the group stage, and they will be wiped again after the quarter-finals in a bid to ensure that no players miss the final stages of the tournament because of multiple yellow cards.
That means that, should England beat Norway, Guehi and O'Reilly will have to avoid a yellow card in the game if they want to be eligible for a last-four clash against either Argentina or Switzerland.
That could influence Tuchel's thinking when he makes his selection calls for the match against Erling Haaland's Norway.
Guehi is looking forward to coming up against his City teammate on an international stage as England look to do what nobody else at the World Cup has managed so far and stop Haaland scoring.
“I know he'll be up for it," he said. "It'll be a challenge, but it's good to see some familiar faces and try and do our best and try and get a win. It’s going to be fun, it will be fun.”