England defender Dan Byrne is enjoying a physical battle with Erling Haaland, who he could face in Miami in the World Cup quarter-finals on Saturday
Dan Byrne has a good record against Erling Haaland
Dan Byrne hopes he can be England’s lucky charm against Erling Haaland. The towering Newcastle defender, who is two inches (6ft 7in) taller than the Norwegian powerhouse (6ft 5in), certainly knows how to silence Manchester City’s high-scoring juggernaut.
Haaland has scored just once in 10 games against the Magpies, and although Byrne is unlikely to start against Norway, he certainly has a clear idea of how to frustrate the 25-year-old assassin.
Asked about his good performance against Haaland, Byrne said: “Yeah, I don’t want to jinx it. Yeah, one goal.”
“From a purely physical point of view, I enjoy playing against Erling. I really like that kind of physical battle and I get along well with him on the pitch. I’ll have to ask him if he thinks the same, but we get along very well.”
“But yeah, if I was asked to do that, I would be ready and willing to do it. But of course I also know that we have four other centre-halves who are also top quality players and have been fighting for this whole tournament.”
The 34-year-old centre-back is still basking in the joy of Sunday’s historic victory over co-hosts Mexico at the Azteca Stadium.
Byrne made a whopping eight defensive contributions, including two headed clearances that incredibly reached the half-line.
In his mind, he was just doing his job, despite the difficult events.
Dan Byrne does well against Norwegian international striker Erling Haaland (Image: Image Photo Agency/Getty Images)
When asked if he had a chance to absorb it all, he continued: “Yeah, there’s a little bit, but I think it’s because everything happened so quickly and the game was going on.”
“It was one of those games where you knew you were brought in for a certain scenario, you already knew what was going to happen and you just prepared for it. And I think it’s different when you’re 34 years old and have played over 500 games. I mean, it’s really the same game, just a different level.”
“You know what I’m saying? So I wasn’t nervous going into the game. I knew what I was going to do and I just wanted to stay on top of my game and help the guys out.”
Dan Byrne was brilliant off the bench for England against Mexico (Image: 2026 The FA)
For him, there was just one game to win last weekend, which ended Newcastle’s 70-year trophy drought.
Asked if the win over Mexico would take him to the top, he added: “Yeah, we’ve got the top two. I said that between then and the cup final in Newcastle. Obviously I’m a Geordie and it’s been a long time since I’ve won something so I think it’s going to be difficult. So it was a huge deal for Newcastle.”
“But, as I said earlier, it was difficult to even have this dream when I was a child.
“So that’s something I’ve always wanted to do for probably the last year and a half. It’s nice to be able to say now that no one can take that away from me. I played in the World Cup, so that’s special, but I want to do more. I want to do it all.”
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