African Results Justify World Cup Slots Increase Amid Criticism

England captain Harry Kane labelled Erling Haaland "a machine" but said he and Norway's "beast" of a number nine are completely different players as they prepare to face off in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final.

Haaland has struck seven times in his first four matches ever at a major tournament, including a devastating double to eliminate Brazil, and his goals have carried Norway into the last eight for the first time.

Kane is only one goal behind the Manchester City striker for the tournament and has taken his overall World Cup record to 14 goals.

"I think we're completely different players. I know we're both strikers, but we're in almost two different positions," Kane told his pre-match press conference.

"Erling is incredible, his goalscoring record, physically he's a machine, he's a beast. His finishing is at the highest level and his goalscoring record speaks for itself.

"I see myself as a different player, although I score the same goals. I like to maybe touch the ball a little bit more, be involved with the play a little bit more, but also can play as maybe the out-and-out number nine.

"I don't think it's one to compare ourselves. I respect him a lot as a player and as a professional. Obviously, I'm hoping he has a quiet day tomorrow, but I think his overall performance is very good. He's a fantastic player."

Despite their phenomenal goalscoring record, Haaland and Kane trail Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe, who have both netted eight times in the 2026 tournament, in the battle for the Golden Boot.

Kane won the prize for the World Cup's top goalscorer in 2018 but England fell short of glory as they exited in the semi-finals to Croatia.

Ending a 60-year wait for England to win a major tournament remains Kane's primary aim, but he is hoping to score the goals to carry the Three Lions to glory.

"I think it's been an amazing World Cup on that front in terms of all the top strikers, all the top goalscorers scoring goals and affecting games. It's not always the case at these major tournaments," added the Bayern Munich striker.

"It's a great competition. It puts me in a mindset to be at my very best level as much as possible.

"My main goal is to win the World Cup more than another golden boot, but I also know I'm a goalscorer, I'm the number nine, so if I'm scoring goals, it's obviously going to help the team."

Kane has been the spearhead for a generation of England players that have come closer than ever before to ending the long wait since the 1966 World Cup to win a major tournament.

Under Gareth Southgate they lost in both the last two finals of the European Championship and exited at the quarter-final and semi-final stage of the past two World Cups.

Kane issued a rallying cry for a huge final effort to get over the line in what could be three games in eight days to make history.

"Ultimately, until we win that trophy, there's always going to be that talk around England and the team but we're in a good position. We're in a place that we wanted to be six weeks ago when we met up for prep camp," he added.

"We took a lot of good steps in the right direction. We've overcome a lot of difficult moments and difficult games.

"Now we're in the final eight days of the final push. We're going to need everyone to be at the highest level to achieve our dreams."

World Cup ticket resale prices dropped for quarterfinal matches following the elimination of co-hosts United States and Mexico, and FIFA has nearly 1,200 seats on sale for the final at $7,380.

The site TickPick listed the lowest price for the Spain-Belgium game on Friday at Inglewood, California, at $1,381, down from $3,261 before the US lost to Belgium in the round of 16, The Associated Press said.

The lowest price for the England-Norway match at Miami Gardens, Florida, on Saturday was $2,049, down from $3,866 before England defeated Mexico to reach the quarterfinals. It listed the lowest price for the Argentina-Switzerland game at Kansas City, Missouri, at $1,142, down from $2,381 before the round of 16.

Standing outside SoFi Stadium on Friday, Jake van Baarsel said he bought tickets two days earlier. The 65-year-old from Riverside, California, said he hadn’t previously planned on attending because he knew ticket prices were so high. But when his son called to tell him he obtained seats at a lower price, he decided to pay for two at $1,000 each to share the moment with his 13-year-old grandson.

“It’s one of those things — it’s a memory maker for my grandson and me,” he said. “So how much money do you put on a memory?

“So yeah, it’s steep for a game, but we enjoy.”

Others who bought tickets well ahead of Friday’s quarterfinal match paid far more.

Lisandro Pineda, 70, of East Los Angeles, said he paid about $2,200 a month ago.

“The price was too high, I think, but it’s a resale, remember,” he said. “I didn’t want to be left out. I’ve never been to a World Cup. I didn’t go to the one we had before. So I figured, I have the money, I have the time, what the heck, buy the ticket, so here we are.”

Kourosh Modarress, 68, of Los Angeles, said his family bought hospitality tickets at $7,000 each after they failed to obtain other tickets in one of FIFA's sales rounds.

“I think it’s highway robbery,” he said.

FIFA had nearly 1,200 category two tickets priced at $7,380 on sale Friday for the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The governing body's last-minute tickets sales site, which at times had listed the game as sold out, had 1,178 seats available across five sections of the top deck along the sidelines: 282 in section 344, 299 in section 343, 139 in section 335, 443 in section 334 and 15 in section 333.

FIFA also was selling 68 front category one tickets in the lower deck at prices ranging from $19,995 to $32,970 and had remaining hospitality tickets in its Trophy Lounge and Trophy Lounge+ sections priced at $34,500 and $32,500, including food and drinks.

Soccer's governing body did not immediately respond to a request for comment on why the additional tickets had become available.

Resale tickets for the final were available on FIFA's marketplace at prices from $7,440.50 to $11,499,998.85.

Thibaut Courtois said he was proud of Belgium's fabled "Golden Generation" on Friday as their final shot at winning a major title ended in a World Cup quarter-final defeat to Spain.

Courtois was forced to watch from the bench as the sun set on the World Cup careers of veteran team-mates such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku at the SoFi Stadium.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois, 34, De Bruyne, 35, and Lukaku, 33, were part of the lavishly talented crop of Belgian players that rose to the pinnacle of FIFA's rankings for multiple years at different times over the past decade.

But a gifted player pool that also included Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany and Marouane Fellaini came up short in major tournaments, with their best performance a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup.

Friday's agonizing 2-1 loss, which followed a blunder by substitute goalkeeper Senne Lammens after Courtois came off injured in the 71st minute, marked a familiar story for Belgium.

"To be a golden generation you have to win some gold and then you can be called that," one commentator has said of the Red Devils.

But talking to journalists after the loss Courtois was adamant that Belgium's old guard could look back at their tournament record with pride, pointing out that in several cases, notably the 2018 World Cup and 2021 European Championship, they had been eliminated by the eventual winners.

"In the big tournaments, almost always we have done well," Courtois said.

"We're very proud of of everything we did till now. Obviously we get a a lot of criticism like 'The golden generation never won anything, and so on.'

"But we are Belgium. We're not England. We're not Spain. We're not France. We are a small country of not even 12 million people that in big tournaments is showing amazing things.

"In 2018 (World Cup) I think we were playing the best football in that tournament. So there are things to be proud of.

"It's really easy to criticize and say, 'Yeah, you didn't win anything.' But look at all big names in in football. Not everyone has won a big tournament, and we always tried it. I think we can be proud."

While several members of the team who started on Friday are well into their 30s, Courtois is confident that Belgium will continue to produce young talent into the future.

"We have great youth academies that are working well... there's young talent coming up, and the guys that are younger now will get stronger the next years.

"And I'm hoping that for the Euros or the next World Cup, we'll get stronger. I think we have the spirit."

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