England and Newcastle United defender Dan Burn is not surprised that Norway have reached the World Cup quarter-finals as England prepare to face them in one of the biggest matches of the tournament.
Although Norway progressed comfortably through the qualifying campaign, they entered the competition as outsiders because they had not appeared at a World Cup since 1998. Despite that, the current generation has continued to demonstrate that it is capable of competing at the highest level.
Qualification for the tournament was viewed as an important milestone for Norway, and their performances have justified that achievement. The team has continued to build momentum with a series of impressive displays.
Burn expects a difficult challenge
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Norway’s victory over Brazil in the previous round has strengthened the belief that they could enjoy a deep run in the competition. Eliminating one of the tournament favourites has highlighted the quality within their squad ahead of the meeting with England.
England have also impressed throughout the tournament and secured their place in the quarterfinals by defeating co-hosts Mexico in the last round. That result reinforced their status as one of the leading contenders for the trophy.
According to [The Independent](https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/england-norway-haaland-dan-burn-world-cup-b3011783.html), Burn believes Norway’s progress has come as no surprise. He said:
“It does not surprise us at all how well they’ve done, to be honest.
“I saw how well they did in qualification. They had a tough group work with Italy in it and topped that, and scored however many goals, so it doesn’t surprise us that they’re doing well, even beating Brazil.
England ready for a stern examination
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Burn also highlighted the quality of Norway’s key players and stressed that England will need to improve if they are to reach the semi-finals.
He added:
“I know Brazil were favourites for that but when you’ve got players like Haaland and (Martin) Odegaard, and people that can affect the game, it doesn’t surprise us that they’re at this stage.
“It is one of them where we’re going to have to be top level all over the pitch and put in probably a lot better performance than we did against Mexico to get through, but it’s something that we’re prepared for.”
England knows they face a demanding challenge, and Burn believes a stronger display will be required if they are to overcome Norway and continue their World Cup campaign.