Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland admits he could have played for the Three Lions but opted out to represent Norway, a country that has been notably absent from the World Cup.
Norway failed to qualify for this year’s tournament, despite the 22-year-old celebrity scoring 21 goals in 23 games for his country.
Halland’s absence against the Netherlands led to a 2-0 defeat as the footballer was ruled out to an injury.
Norway’s dream of qualifying for the World Cup was bypassed as Steven Bergwijin, and Memphis Depay broke the hearts of millions of Norwegians.
The Scandinavian country has only appeared in three world cup appearances since 1998.
Ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Qatar, Haaland revealed that he could have joined Gareth Southgate’s team on the pitch.
Born in Leeds, the striker was eligible to represent England, yet believes it was ‘natural’ for him to choose to play for Norway.
“I lived here [England] for three-and-a-half or four years, and I lived in Norway for such a long time, so then it was natural for me to choose Norway,” Haaland told Goal.
“You never know how it would be if maybe my father played longer in England or whatever, maybe I would be English, I don’t know. But yeah, I’m Norwegian, and I’m proud of it,” Haaland added.
Undoubtedly, Southgate’s squad would have needed the help of the young star as they have been troubled with injuries.
Kalvin Phillips has been named on the roster despite playing only 53 minutes of football this season.
Led by a fatigued Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, and Ben White, all of which will debut in their first World Cup.
“We have had to cover a couple of players who are not fully match fit as well so having 26 players means you can take a couple of risks,” Southgate said after the calling.
“We think the balance is there. We think we have everything covered,” Southgate added.
This November, England will face a challenging Group B placing them against Iran, the US and Wales.