England will revert to their all-white strip for their World Cup quarter-final against Norway. The Three Lions were forced to wear navy shorts against Mexico in the previous round due to FIFA's strict kit clash regulations.
FIFA's Kit Regulations
According to Rule 6.2.1 of the FIFA Equipment Regulations, each item of kit worn by one team must contrast sufficiently with the equivalent item worn by the other team. Article 30 of FIFA's World Cup 2026 Regulations states that the governing body prefers both teams to wear their first-choice kit, selected and communicated no more than one month before the start of the competition.
If colours cause confusion, the following principles apply: Team A (designated home team) wears their first-choice kit, then Team B, then goalkeepers, then officials. In the match against Mexico, Mexico were Team A and wore green tops with white shorts, preventing England from wearing white shorts. England instead wore navy shorts, as they did against Ghana.
Norway's Kit Choice
For the quarter-final, Norway are the designated home side but will wear a modified variation of their home kit, pairing their red top with navy shorts. This allows England to wear their full white strip—white top, white shorts, and white socks.
England have worn a white top in all but one of their World Cup games so far; they switched to the red away shirt against Panama. Manager Thomas Tuchel's squad has shown resilience, overcoming a round of 32 scare against DR Congo and defeating co-hosts Mexico 3-2 in Mexico City to set up the quarter-final with Norway in Miami.
Stopping Haaland
Norway's main threat is Erling Haaland, who has scored seven goals in the tournament. Tuchel commented on how his side plans to stop the Manchester City striker: "You can't avoid focusing, for sure not. There is so much quality in these moments and you have to make decisions, how to defend it. He loves to arrive on the second post so the question is when to make contact with him. It's also a type of defender type of thing."
Tuchel added: "Some defenders like to stay zonal and get the earlier jump, some defenders like to step back and start fighting with him on the ground physically, but then he pushes you maybe aside and gets a free header. If you stay zonal, he jumps over you. So he has all the weapons once you arrive in the box. There are of course ways to make life hard for him when he starts accelerating and when they play long balls. So it's a team effort but of course the full focus of our central defenders will be on him."
