MIAMI — Strolling down Miami’s South Beach, you see two very different vibes among England and Norway supporters.
On one hand England fans are swigging beer in the sun with a familiar slightly nervous look on their face as the pressure is now on their team to deliver.
They’re still having a great time but they know this is maybe the best chance they’ll have to win it all again in the next 30 years. England fans are flooding to Miami, with over 30,000 expected for the game as stories of last-minute trips via here, there and everywhere flow as freely as the drinks.
FOMO was very real among the England fans here in Miami.
Overall expectation levels from England’s fans was pretty low heading into this tournament. But Thomas Tuchel’s team, ranked fourth in the world, are now three wins from glory and their first World Cup title since 1966 as their epic last 16 win against Mexico in Mexico City has boosted hopes they can finally win it all again.
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#Norway’s fans do the row here in Miami South Beach before their #WorldCup quarterfinal v #England and it is epic! pic.twitter.com/lXXQbjb6xI
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) July 10, 2026
Confidence is now high among England’s fans in Miami
England are the favorites to beat Norway on Saturday and even though their fans have resisted the urge to chant ‘It’s coming home’ for most of this tournament it could be heard near The Carlyle hotel on South Beach. Fans wore hats with the slogan. They believe again.
England’s fans are now starting to dream they can go all the way. Confidence is high. “5-0 today!” said an England fan to his friends in downtown Miami before he went out to the stadium.
That means the expectation levels are now climbing back to the usually high, slightly unhealthy, levels.
Youngster Harrison Kerswell was stood on Ocean Drive with the flag of St George wrapped around him. He believes England are going all the way.
“It’s coming home,” Kerswell said, stood outside the Clevelander as thousands of England fans were belting out Wonderwall and lauding Thomas Tuchel. “It’s the year. We’ve played so well. We’ve had our ups and downs. The group stage wasn’t the best for us but as we’re going on we are getting better and better. Going to the Azteca and winning, we can’t underestimate that. I think that was the first game I’ve seen England be the underdog for and we looked unreal there. Everyone has doubted the defense but the last 20 minutes against Mexico showed how much quality we’ve got in our team.”
#England fans in fine voice here in Miami South Beach. Every single English fan I’ve spoken to is very, very confident about tomorrow v #Norway and going all the way at this #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/djlNGABb9N
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) July 11, 2026
But as confident as England’s fans are, they also know the pressure is on.
“The pressure is on, 100 percent. The pressure is on to get to the next round,” England fan Graham Ward, who has been to eight World Cups, said. “Once they get to the next round I don’t think it matters what happens because that will probably be classed as an element of success. At this level a semifinal would be a good achievement considering who the other teams in play are.”
Graham’s wife, Julie, is confident England are going to win it all.
“They’re going to do it, I just think it’s going to happen,” she said. “They feel like a unit. They feel like a team. I feel really good about it.”
The general feeling among England fans is that Argentina and France will obviously be tough to get past. But there is a growing belief that this team has shown enough, so far, to handle the pressure in big moments.
England fans who have been supporting them for over 40 years told us that this is it. This is different. This is the time.
Hull City fan Steve Dyas and his friends sheltered from an evening rain and thunderstorm under the umbrella’s outside a pub on South Beach, they recalled how they’d been at the Azteca in 1986 when England lost to Argentina in controversial fashion in the World Cup quarterfinals. They’ve seen it all and they say this is different. They say it’s coming home this time.
Ryan Stone has been to every England game at this World Cup and was delighted to be in Miami for a quarterfinal.
“We will beat Norway tomorrow, then we will play Argentina and then play France in the final. It will be a very hard game but if we are on our game we’ll do them,” Stone said.
England and Stoke City fan Ryan Stone is very confident #England are going all the way, is a big fan of Thomas Tuchel and is loving being in Miami for a #WorldCup quarterfinal.
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) July 11, 2026
“It’s got to come home. It it doesn’t come home I’m going to be really, really upset.” pic.twitter.com/zomMckA0Zq
A local taxi driver said he wants England to win the World Cup: “It would be nice to see them do it and to see a different team win it. It would be fun if England finally did it.”
A local on a scooter buzzed past Finnegan’s Way pub and shouted “Come on England!” as the party vibes are strong.
England fans Norman Bartlam, 68, (left) and Paul Dubberley, 67, pose on South Beach in Miami. Ahead of England’s game against Norway in the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Picture date: Thursday July 9, 2026. (Photo by James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images)
PA Images via Getty Images
Norway playing with house money
While England’s fans are now seriously dreaming about going all the way, Norway’s fans are just happy to be here.
Erling Haaland, Norway’s superstar, was asked if the pressure was on England.
“Yeah, definitely.”
He then added this to the media on Norway’s chances of winning it all: “Really low still… I think there are some clear favorites out there. England are one of them, so I think all of you should put every single pressure on the English lads.”
#Norway fan Peter Gørbitz from Oslo is very respectful of #England but believes all of the pressure is on them tomorrow.
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) July 11, 2026
“Definitely. We’ve already had a massive success. England needs to ‘bring it home’ and they’ve been trying to do it since 1966, right?” #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/4Pa5Q42Ce9
Haaland was also asked if Englands fans should stay humble, his famous saying.
“I think everyone should stay humble but they should be confident of progressing, definitely,” Haaland said.
Norway’s fans littered the famous art deco buildings around South Beach and they echo his views.
Their fans put on an amazing show on the eve of the game with flags, a huge organized row and sang “England’s going home!” and “rowing home!” as the banter was superb.
Norway were being cheered on by locals and are almost always rowing with huge smiles on their faces as they can’t believe they are in the quarterfinals.
Peter Gorbitz, from Oslo, wore everything with a Norway flag on it. The pattern on his trousers was full of about 100 Norway flags.
He was supposed to go home after the last game against Brazil, but decided he couldn’t because of how incredible this is.
“Keep on rowing! We rowed down from New York and maybe we were row to Atlanta (for the semifinal), right?” Orbitz smiled, as he rowed.
“#England’s going home!” sing the #Norway fans here in Miami at South Beach. Tremendous banter. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/vyHo7U5Ead
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) July 10, 2026
This is the first time Norway’s men’s team has reached the last eight of the World Cup and there’s a general sense of disbelief. Their players included.
“We need to go game-by-game and see how far we can go. Now we are in the quarterfinal in Miami and it is just crazy to say it out loud. I am so happy,” Norway winger Andreas Schjelderup, who set up both of Erling Haaland’s goals in the historic quarterfinal win against Brazil, said.
“On how much it means for Norway, I think we are changing the nation,” Haaland explained. “We have been growing balls now over time on playing football and I think the way we play shows that Norway is a fantastic football team and we are actually one of the better teams in Europe and the world because what we’ve been doing is amazing. It took 28 years [to get back to the World Cup], took some time, I’m 25 years old so you can’t really blame me for that! It is unbelievable. I am proud of my country and I am proud of everyone.”
Schjelderup added this on the fans, who have done Norway proud at this World Cup, when speaking to Pro Soccer Talk: “I want to thank them for their amazing support. The row and everything is really amazing. I feel like it has really put the Norwegian people a lot closer. You can just see how happy everyone in Norway is right now.”
And they are so happy because they have Haaland up front leading the charge. With seven goals so far at this World Cup he is the x-factor.
“He’s the best player in the world. That is what we are chanting over here,” Gorbitz said. “He is so hungry. You can see it, he’s putting everything in for the team and his performance against Brazil was just outstanding.”
The #Norway fans are already rowing here in #Miami ahead of their huge #WorldCup quarterfinal against #England on Saturday! Great atmosphere around South Beach. pic.twitter.com/hGcU8cmQ1C
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) July 10, 2026
Norway’s fans and team are playing with house money. They have absolutely nothing to lose.
They’re so happy to be here after unexpectedly beating Brazil. Speaking with their supporters in Boston, New Jersey and now Miami, the general theme is to keep enjoying the journey and to see what happens. There is no pressure.
“Everything is a bonus!” beamed one Norway fan.
Wearing Viking hats, rowing with locals and wearing scarves around their head, they are taking it all in their stride. That approach is working well for Norway and their vibe is extremely dangerous for England. Norway are calm and enjoying their historic run.
“We know we are still only Norway, we are a small country and everything,” Norway’s left back David Moller Wolfe smiled as he spoke to Pro Soccer Talk about the quarterfinal. “We are very humble but of course on our day we can create trouble for many, many teams... We are just enjoying.”
England still enjoying the journey, even if the pressure is on
For England fans the focus is simple when it comes to the trouble Norway can cause them: stop Haaland and win the game.
“Stop the supply line to Haaland and we win the match,” Ward said. “We will still probably win it, but it will make it easier.”
All of the talk among England’s fans is about how important Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham are to their success at this World Cup and that they will deliver goals and assists again on Saturday.
Most of England’s fans are now extremely confident of reaching a second World Cup semifinal in three tournaments, as long as Haaland is kept quiet.
“Everyone [has to play well], but especially Kane and Bellingham,” Ward said. “I think England can play average and if they can stop the supply line to Haaland, I think we can play really average and easily win still.”
England fans also praised Thomas Tuchel’s “honesty” and him being “relatable” and sensible with his decisions so far at this tournament.
But whatever happens for England their diehard fans who over the years have seen them crash out of World Cups too often in the group stage or early in the knockout rounds on penalty kicks, are grateful to be in a third-straight World Cup quarterfinal.
“I’ve been to eight World Cups and you have to keep perspective,” Ward said. “I hope people don’t forget what Gareth Southgate did too. He was the one who created this environment and created a different approach for England. He took it from a club culture to a unity culture so it is different and naturally it is going to be better.”
England have been getting better and improving throughout this World Cup and now the pressure is truly on.
Making the World Cup semifinals will be deemed as a success. Losing to Norway would mean this tournament is a failure. Before this quarterfinal has kicked off Norway has already won.
The narratives and expectation levels surrounding these two fanbases couldn’t be more different in Miami ahead of this epic showdown.
