Former PSV fan of World Cup striker: “Fascinating”

The 2026 World Cup is already in the quarterfinals. On Thursday evening in Dutch time, it is France and Morocco’s turn to fight for a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

At the global final tournament, superstars like Erling Braut Haaland, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé represent their country. Also, the English super striker Harry Kane is in fine form during this tournament.

These four will therefore very likely determine who becomes the top scorer of the tournament. Next Saturday, Haaland and Kane will face each other when the match Norway - England is on the schedule.

Former PSV players Arnold Bruggink and Danny Koevermans tell tegenover the Algemeen Dagblad that they are big fans of the Norwegian striker, who last Sunday managed to score twice against Brazil (1-2). ''That’s really special. Because there’s always one who’s out of form or doesn’t go that far. I paid extra attention to Erling Haaland during Norway-Brazil. How he times his run for the first goal is fantastic. First moving away from the man so he has half a meter of advantage. Fascinating'', Bruggink says to the AD.

Still, the former PSV player does not expect Haaland to become the top scorer. ''Then Kylian Mbappé has more of a chance. With France. Intuitively, I think the image that has been created around him in recent years is wrong. I see, at any rate, absolutely no annoying player in him. Not at all in anything. It doesn’t help that Paris Saint-Germain started winning trophies without him and Real Madrid, on the other hand, hasn’t since he came in. But look at the match against Paraguay in which he was intimidated, got under their skin as well and even dished it out himself. He was able to hold back, and under pressure he even converted a penalty and stepped off the field as the winner,'' says the current analyst.

Danny Koevermans also doesn’t shy away from admitting that he is a fan of the Norwegian. ''That nonchalance, knowing exactly what to do, I think it’s unmatched. A monster, that one, who has everything. Speed, strength, everything. I think that in the past few years he has become even more complete. A lot of strikers are first-post runners. Haaland isn’t. He often chooses the second post instead. And every defender is hopeless. Even that Brazilian, Gabriel. Good defender, but he can’t manage it against Haaland. I think Harry Kane is comparable in how good he is, but Haaland is even faster and can jump higher. And he’s younger too,'' says the Koef.

In addition, the former PSV striker also thinks that it will be a difficult story for Haaland in the race for the top scorer title. ''But if he wants to become the top scorer, I think Norway will have to reach the final. And that will be difficult. When we talk about it, we shouldn't underestimate Mikel Oyarzabal of Spain. I even tipped him to my wife in the World Cup pool. Because he might not be a striker that everyone immediately thinks of. He also plays for Real Sociedad, not at the absolute top. And Messi? If he and his compatriots try to play at sixty percent one more time in this World Cup, they will be eliminated,'' concludes Koevermans.