Who is Dan Burn? Meet England's 6-7 defender who could be key to stopping Erling Haaland amid World Cup injuries
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Who is Dan Burn? Meet England's 6-7 defender who could be key to stopping Erling Haaland amid World Cup injuries originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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England will know first-hand how difficult the task will be in stopping superstar Norway striker Erling Haaland when the two clash in the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday.
Haaland, who plays in the Premier League, has competed against many of the England squad players on multiple occasions.
After winning multiple Premier League Golden Boot awards, he is now in contention for the World Cup top goal scorer, with his seven goals one behind the leaders Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.
However, England head coach Thomas Tuchel may have an ace up his sleeve. The Sporting News explains why Dan Burn's height could be the key to stopping the Man City star.
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Who is Dan Burn?
Born in Blythe, a town in the north of England, in May of 1992, Dan Burn is a Premier League veteran who bloomed late in his career. He has one of the most fascinating and inspirational career paths of any England international.
He spent his early youth days at Newcastle but was released at 11 years old. After leaving full-time football development by the age of 16, he was scouted by Darlington and joined the non-league side in 2009, being promoted to the first team later that year at 17 years old.
In 2011, Burn joined Fulham ahead of the 2011/12 season for a fee of just £325,000 before being loaned to Yeovil Town and Birmingham City for one season each. His performances would then earn him a spot on the Fulham senior squad, making his Premier League debut in January 2014 against Arsenal.
He would eventually be released after the 2015/16 season and signed for Championship side Wigan, where he spent two seasons and made 87 appearances. He would then join Brighton but re-joined Wigan on loan in his first season. He would play three years with Brighton before joining Newcastle in the summer of 2022, where he has blossomed into a Premier League star after the age of 30.
Burn is a natural centre-back, but he can also play left-back, which is surprising for a player of his size. Obviously, he's not exactly an attacking threat out wide, but he does provide some movement forward.
How tall is Dan Burn?
One of Dan Burn's biggest attributes is his height, where he stands at 6 feet, 7 inches (201 centimetres).
As a result, Burn is one of the best players at winning headers, as he won 3.4 aerial duels per game in the Premier League last season, at a 60.49% success rate. His 3.99 aerial duels won per 90 minutes was ninth in the English top flight in 2025/26 amongst all players with 25 or more league appearances, and of the eight players above him, his success rate was better than all but two of them.
Dan Burn height vs. Erling Haaland
Erling Haaland stands at 6 feet, 5 inches (195 centimetres), which makes Dan Burn two inches taller than the Norwegian superstar.
Burn has an exceptional record against Haaland in his club career. Haaland has scored just one time with Dan Burn on the pitch, across eight matches in total.
England injuries vs. Norway
Dan Burn could be deployed against Norway, not only because of his experience and size advantage over Erling Haaland, but also because England have some injury issues at the back.
For Burn's purposes, the most notable injury is to Marc Guehi, who is struggling with hamstring tightness after the Mexico win, but Guehi trained on Friday so he could be in contention to start.
There are also concerns over Reece James, who has missed multiple games at this World Cup due to a hamstring problem. However, he too trained the day before the Norway match, so it's possible he returns to action too.
How England can stop Erling Haaland
The first thing to note here is that there is no stopping Erling Haaland; there is only slowing him down. The 25-year-old has scored in every single World Cup game he has played in and has at least one goal in 17 of his last 20 international matches, scoring 31 goals in that span.
So, if England are looking to slow Haaland as much as possible, there are two ways to keep a lid on the Man City star.
First, deny him the ball. This strategy can be obvious in theory but difficult in practice because Norway are effective and dangerous, feeding him the ball both in possession and on the counter. However, even if an opponent is successful at this for 85 of the 90 minutes, those five minutes can be lethal.
Second, a physical presence can frustrate Haaland and keep him from creating the space to create shots for himself. This can be dangerous, of course, because fouling him in the penalty area would be a disaster. But this is where Dan Burn comes in, because he can effectively neutralize Haaland's physical presence.