Erling Haaland’s day in the World Cup quarterfinal ended early − and so did his time in the tournament.
The Norway star was subbed out at the break of extra time against England on Saturday, July 11 as his team was trailing. He was taken out in favor of Jorgen Strand Larsen.
With his team down 2-1 as he came off, it meant Norway had to play the final 15 minutes of the match and try to get one more goal without its top goal scorer. Norway was unable to get the equalizer in the final half of extra time, losing and being eliminated from the World Cup after reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in its history.
Why did Erling Haaland come out?
While no immediate reason was given for why Norway took out its best player, it was evident Haaland was running on empty after more than 105 minutes of action. His energy was nowhere near its usual level, with Fox commentator and soccer great Zlatan Ibrahimović noting it was the right decision to take him out since he “looked slow on his toes.”
Regardless, Haaland was not happy to leave the pitch with his team’s World Cup hopes minutes away from ending.
Haaland entered the match with seven goals, one behind tournament leaders Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi. He was unable to score in the quarterfinal at Hard Rock Stadium, and a Norway goal was actually taken off the scoreboard after video assistance ruled Haaland committed a foul on the play.
World Cup knockout round format
The World Cup becomes a single-elimination tournament once the knockout stage begins. The 32 remaining teams have been placed into a bracket, and the field will halve itself during each ensuing round of the tournament until a winner is crowned.
The lone exception is that the two semifinal losers will play in a third-place game ahead of the World Cup final.
World Cup knockout stage bracket, matchups, schedule
Round of 16
- July 4: France def Paraguay – Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia
- July 4: Morocco def Canada – Houston
- July 5: Norway def Brazil – East Rutherford
- July 5: England def Mexico – Mexico City
- July 6: Spain def Portugal – Arlington
- July 6: Belgium def USA – Seattle
- July 7: Argentina def Egypt – Atlanta
- July 7: Switzerland def Colombia – Vancouver
Quarterfinals
- July 9: France def Morocco – Foxborough
- July 10: Spain def. Belgium – Inglewood
- July 11: Norway vs. England – Miami
- July 11: Argentina vs. Switzerland – Kansas City
Semifinals
- July 14: France vs. Spain – Arlington
- July 15: Norway/England vs. Argentina/Switzerland – Atlanta
Final
- July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey
