ByJoe Bradshaw

BBC Sport senior journalist

From the moment Harry Kane's proposed move to Manchester City in August 2021 broke down, his career has been linked with that of Erling Haaland.

That's because the giant Norwegian arrived the next summer and then fired City to a Treble.

Then, Kane was captain of Tottenham. He had no trophies, no silverware and seemed to have missed out on his big move.

Fast forward a few years and the two face off on Saturday as central to their country's World Cup hopes, only now with a different narrative.

No longer is Kane the nearly man.

Since moving to Bayern Munich in 2023, he has twice won the Bundesliga and the European Golden Shoe for top scorer on the continent.

He has six goals already at this tournament.

Despite being born in Leeds, Haaland, who already has seven in his first World Cup, would love nothing more than to stop him.

Goals, goals, goals

Any comparison of Haaland and Kane has to start with the most important metric in football: goals.

And these two are arguably the very best.

Ever since Kane scored with his third touch for his country in March 2015, he has been the driving force behind England's bid to end their long wait for international silverware.

Eighty five goals later, he remains the central figure of Thomas Tuchel's side, the classy captain that can always be relied upon for a match-winning performance.

Witness his two goals against DR Congo in the last 32, and a nerveless penalty at Azteca Stadium to see off Mexico a round later as examples.

Since moving to Germany, Kane's numbers have gone stratospheric, besting Haaland's goal tallies every season and establishing himself as a frontrunner in the race for the Ballon d'Or.

A World Cup quarter-final though does return Kane to arguably the lowest ebb of his international career, when he missed a late penalty in a defeat by France at the Qatar finals.

As he leapfrogs Wayne Rooney into outright second for all-time England appearances (120) behind only Peter Shilton, the stage is set for him to erase that particular blot on his history.

England fans will need no reminder of Haaland's goalscoring expertise, however.

In this World Cup alone, he has netted the match winner in all four of his appearances so far – he was rested against France in the final group game with qualification secured – and bested old rival Gabriel of Arsenal in scoring twice against Brazil in the last 16.

Go further back and his Norway record is astonishing.

He has scored in 14 straight games for his country, totting up 27 goals in the process. In total, he has 62 in 51 matches for Norway, at a ludicrous rate of one goal every 71 minutes.

Superhuman statistics, even when compared with the international record of fellow heavyweights such as Kane, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi, albeit they have all played many more minutes for their nations than Haaland.

Who offers more than goals?

While both these two players are supreme goalscorers, when it comes to their all-round game, Kane would appear to have the edge.

In this specific tournament, he has one assist, setting up Jude Bellingham unselfishly against Mexico, and his tendency to drop deeper supports a view he is offers more to the team than Haaland.

But is that true?

Sometimes pigeonholed as just a goalscorer, Haaland has 24 assists in three seasons for Manchester City in the Premier League and Europe, compared with 26 at Bayern for Kane. Haaland actually provided more in 2024-25 than the England marksman.

During this World Cup so far, he has also created more chances for his team-mates (six versus four) despite playing almost 100 minutes fewer.

Nevertheless, numbers from their club sides do back up the assumption that Kane features considerably more in build-up than Haaland.

For Bayern last season, he averaged almost double the number of touches per game, created twice as many chances per 90 and averaged two dribbles each match as opposed to one in Haaland's case.

The touch maps back this up – Haaland having many fewer and more concentrated in the opposing penalty area with Kane involved across the pitch.

The below graph gives an indication of how vital each player is to their nation.

Unsurprisingly, it shows that when Kane or Haaland score, England and Norway win a large proportion of the time.

However, when Haaland does not score for Norway, their win percentage drops dramatically compared with England's without Kane.

Their reliance on the Manchester City striker is evidenced by the fact they win less than a third of games where he is not on the scoresheet.

In the game he missed at these finals, they were dispatched 4-1 by France.

By contrast, Kane has been ably supported by Jude Bellingham, a fellow world-class operator who has scored four goals at this tournament, including vital strikes against Panama and Mexico.

Neutralise Haaland, neutralise Norway.

It is just that is easier said than done.

What do the experts think?

Pundits at this World Cup have had plenty to enjoy given the performances of all the big names, with Haaland and Kane no exception.

Speaking after the win over Brazil, ex-England goalkeeper Joe Hart described Haaland as "an absolute monster".

"He's taken all the stress out of everything," Hart added. "He is so relaxed, is taking care of business on the pitch and enjoying every minute at the World Cup."

Former England captain Wayne Rooney agreed, saying: "Haaland has given his whole country the belief they can go really far in the competition."

When describing Kane's winner against DR Congo, the pair were equally glowing.

"It's sublime," Rooney said. "Like all great centre-forwards, he doesn't even have to look at the goalkeeper - it's instinctive."

Hart added: "He trusts his technique and from the moment the ball left his foot, he would have been celebrating."

Haaland and Kane have actually only played each other twice, and both in the space of three weeks in early 2023. Haaland claimed the first, scoring the equaliser as City came from two goals down to win 4-2 at Etihad Stadium.

Kane got his revenge at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium shortly after as he grabbed the only goal in a 1-0 victory, becoming Spurs' all-time leading scorer in the process.

The gloves are off with a World Cup semi-final on the line.

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