Why Erling Haaland snubbed England to play for Norway?

The Manchester City star is one of the biggest absentees of the upcoming World Cup.

Erling Haaland has opened up on his decision to play for Norway instead of England.

Haaland was born in Leeds due to his father’s football career in England. The former Borussia Dortmund star had the opportunity to switch international allegiances to England.

However, he chose to play for Norway’s U15 national team before making his international debut in 2019.

Since then, he has scored 21 goals in his 23 appearances, which puts him 13 goals away from becoming their all-time top-scorer.

“I lived [in England] for three and a half or four years,” Haaland explained to Goal.

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Alf-Inge Haaland’s career ended prematurely in 2003, forcing him and his family to return to Norway. Having spent most of his childhood in Norway, Haaland decided to play for the Scandinavian nation.

He added: “I lived in Norway for such a long time, so then it was natural for me to choose Norway.

“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 I’m Norwegian and I’m proud of it.”

Haaland failed to lead Norway to secure a World Cup spot. But he will have to join them for two friendly games later this month.

The Lions will travel to Ireland on November 17 before hosting Finland three days later.