Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has picked out four countries as his favourites to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar next month.
Haaland has had a stellar start to life in England, and will now have the opportunity to sit back and watch the rest of football's greatest stars compete on the biggest stage in Qatar.
The Norwegian forward will head to Abu Dhabi with Pep Guardiola and the remaining Manchester City stars from around 5 December for a warm-weather training camp.
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That camp will also include any players who are knocked out of the World Cup earlier.
Before then, the competition itself, and the Manchester City striker has offered his thoughts ahead of the big kick-off next week.
Speaking during a recent conversation, Erling Haaland was asked to pick out his favourites to take home football's top prize.
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The Norway international forward was unable to select just one favourite, but picked out four countries including one home to multiple Manchester City teammates in England.
Haaland said, "Favourites... I think the favourites should be Brazil, Argentina, France and maybe England. I cannot only say one, because there are so many good teams, so yeah, these four."
Erling Haaland and his Norway teammates failed to secure qualification for the Qatar edition of the FIFA World Cup.
However, despite the disappointment, the 22 year-old insists that making his bow at the greatest show on earth remains a core career goal for both himself and his international colleagues.
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"I hope I play for Norway and our dream and reality, the biggest thing we can do, is to get to either a World Cup or Euros," Erling Haaland began.
"That's of course my goal with the national team to do. We know it's difficult, but hopefully in the future one day I'll be able to play them."
Instead, the former Borussia Dortmund striker will be able to take advantage of a rare period of time off after his international commitments with Norway at friendly fixtures come to a close in the coming days.
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Erling Haaland insists that he will remain focussed on training and returning to Manchester City refreshed for the games that come after the World Cup.
"I will relax my body and my mind a lot and then I will train. What I will train on? Nothing special," Haaland admitted.
"I think, it's been going quite well, my first months in (Manchester) City, so I don't need to do so much things, or so many changes to be honest. It's about preparing myself for the next half of the season and being ready when the next game kicks in after the break."
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Manchester City will return to action on 22 December with a Carabao Cup fourth round tie against Premier League rivals Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium.
Topics: Erling Haaland, Manchester City, Football World Cup, Argentina, France, Germany, England, Qatar, Football
Freddie Pye