England and Norway head coaches Thomas Tuchel and Stale Solbakken lavished praise on their respective star strikers Harry Kane and Erling Haaland ahead of the World Cup quarter-final between the sides in Miami on Saturday.
“I don't think it's a secret that Kane is match-leader number one for England and Haaland is match-leader number one for us," said Solbakken, who has guided a Norway squad into a first World Cup quarter-final.
"He's in the shape of his life and in the highest peak of his career," said Tuchel of Kane.
"He has the mindset of a team player," added the 52-year-old German. "He's ready to lead by example and to push everybody, always ready to take responsibility, always ready to perform and help us.
"It's a privilege to have him as captain, a privilege to be his coach."
The winner of the showdown will play the victor of Saturday night's clash between defending champions Argentina and Switzerland. The other semi-final pits Spain against France in Dallas on Tuesday.
England are playing in their third consecutive last-eight clash at the world's most prestigious international tournament.
And Solbakken conceded such experience would give Tuchel's team the slight edge. "If we are not at our very, very best, England will go through," said the 58-year-old former Norway international.
Race for the Golden Boot
In their historic run to the last eight, Haaland scored twice as Norway upset Brazil 2-1 in on 5 July at the New York/New Jersey Stadium.
Kane scored one goal and set up one of Jude Bellingham's two strikes in England's 3-2 win over Mexico at the Estadio Azteca on the same day.
Haaland, 25, has racked up seven goals in four matches at his first World Cup.
He sits one behind the Argentina skipper Lionel Messi and France's captain Kylian Mbappé in the race for the "Golden Boot", which is awarded to the most prolific marksman at the competition.
Kane is fourth in line with six goals. In his three appearances at the World Cup, Kane has notched up 14 goals to sit in fifth place on the all-time World Cup scoring list, alongside Germany's Gerd Müller.
'Super special' clash
Haaland, who was born in England while his father was playing for Leeds United, said he would relish the encounter.
"It will be super special because I play in England and I'm born in England and I'll be against teammates," he added.
England defender Nico O'Reilly, who plays with Haaland at Manchester City, said the simple solution to stop Haaland will be to cut off service to the striker.
"We all know what he’s like," O'Reilly said. "He can score goals. He's dangerous in the box. He’s a real threat. But they need to get him the ball there first."
