A peek inside the England dressing room. Three Lions: the sadness in their eyes.

England vibes man Jordan Henderson – who is technically on a booking tonight and in danger of missing the semis, but, well, y’know – talks to ITV. “[My wrist] is alright thanks. [Smiles broadly if a bit sheepishly] Not me finest hour, I know! … the main job was to go there and win and progress to the quarter-final, and we managed to do that, so that’s the main thing … a tough couple of days … the doctors and surgeons in Kansas were amazing … just delighted to be part of the squad again today … we showed character [against Mexico] and we’ll have to do the same against a very good Norwegian side … good players … a tough test … if we’re the best version of ourselves, I’m confident we’ll go through.”

And could he be fit for a potential semi-final or final? He laughs. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!”

A dispatch from our man Ed Aarons in Miami.

There’s lots of local supporters at the game who have decided to pick sides now that the hosts are out. I just bumped into a giant Mexico fan who has thrown his considerable weight behind Norway after his team was eliminated by England in the last round. He definitely looks the part anyway! Can almost imagine him leading the line with Erling Haaland and Alexander Sorloth.

Pre-match postbag: the conditions. “Silly hydration breaks eh, let’s all boo vociferously. Get over it and grow up! (Not you specifically, Scott, just the increasingly vocal and ill-advised majority who think heatstroke is something you get after the tenth pint in Magaluf.) If the rules apply for one game they have to apply for every game, regardless of whether it’s a rainy night in the North-east or a potentially life-threatening match in Miami. Yes, we all agree the breaks have been completely and cynically commercialised (quelle surprise), but they are obviously necessary in games like this” – Julian Menz

“I hope England trained for the absurd heat by playing walking football” – Ian Copestake

“It seems they calculate ‘feels like’ differently in the USA. A Canadian ‘humidex’ calculator is frightening. It says 33C at 71% RH: the Humidex is: 47 (117F). Only medically supervised work can continue. They’ll need a water break every five minutes - think of the ad revenue! Seriously, that sounds dangerous” – Nigel in balmy 27C Toronto

Thomas Tuchel talks to ITV. “I hope [the players] feel good … I hope they feel prepared … now it’s their moment … they know everything … it’s time to let go and release our energy and give it a go … we need to play with freedom … all-in … that is what a quarter-final is for … Reece James is available but maybe not for 90 minutes … I’d like to have him as an option from the bench … the goal is to stop their front line … height and physicality … we want to be strong from set pieces … we have a strong bench to finish the match off … spend more time in the opponent’s half … especially in these conditions.”

Pre-match postbag: Harry and Don. “In light of today’s revelations about his golfing partners while Stateside, does Harry Kane’s lucky mulligan for the penalty retake in England’s opener against Croatia now not look very suspicious??? Of course it doesn’t, but hey, let’s get the excuses in early, in case England go and win the whole bloody thing!” – Justin Kavanagh

“Trump is a man who has been found in a civil court case to have sexually abused E Jean Carroll (and has been accused of sexual abuse by numerous other women). As President of the United States, his record is demonising immigrants, carrying out illegal wars, tearing up environmental protections and overseas aid, and prioritising the interests of the super rich over those of anyone else. Choosing to play golf with him is a political choice” – Corin Metcalfe

“If Bellingham gets a yellow, Kane only has to call on his mate Orange” – Ian Copestake

England make two changes to the team that started against Mexico. Ezri Konsa takes the troubled right-back spot off the suspended Jarell Quansah, making room for John Stones in the centre of defence. In attack, Noni Madueke starts on the right ahead of Bukayo Saka. Jordan Pickford makes his 18th World Cup appearance, breaking a record jointly held with Peter Shilton for most games played ⁠at the finals.

Norway make one change to their starting XI following the win over Brazil. Andreas Schjelderup, who set up both goals on Sunday, replaces Antonio Nusa, the only player in the Norway squad on a booking.

Pre-match postbag: the Taylor letters. “With you 100% about Graham Taylor. He seemed out of his depth at the time but I think history has shown that he did the best he could what he was given. Of the three years he was in charge, he was without Paul Gascoigne for a good half of that time, he lost John Barnes in the ‘94 qualifiers lost Barnes to injury in the 94 qualifiers, had a lot of the Italia 90 team retire - Bryan Robson, Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher - or on their way out- Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle etc. Any fans moaning about whatever may happen later tonight would do good to remember an England midfield once consisting of Andy Sinton, Carlton Palmer, Tony Daley and David Batty. RIP Graham” – Dave Estherby

“In 2012, I saw Graham Taylor at Oslo airport. As he was walking to his flight, dozens of England fans showed enormous, genuine affection for him, and he responded graciously and generously. A great man. His travelling companion, Alan Green, had been disturbing everyone in the business class lounge by reading his contract out loud line-by-line and moaning” – Andrew Goudie

Feeling stressed ahead of kick-off? Good! What would the point of any of this be, if you simply didn’t care? Just thank your lucky stars you’re not lining up in the tunnel, waiting, contemplating, anticipating, possibly hyperventilating. Some players deal with this sort of thing better than others. Look!

… and while we’re on the subject of photo galleries, this exercise in slit-scanning – a process which has a longer and more varied history in sports photography than you may imagine – is great fun as well.

You won’t need reminding that tonight’s game could go to extra time and penalty kicks. So if it indeed goes all the way, what on earth should Harry Kane do if he wins the toss? Mo Salah has the answer …

England have four players walking the disciplinary tightrope this evening. Jude Bellingham was booked against DR Congo, while Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly and Declan Rice were all cautioned against Mexico. A yellow card for any of them tonight, and they’ll miss the semi-final should England get through. Norway have only one player on a yellow in winger Antonio Nusa. (Yellow cards were wiped at the start of the knockouts, and will be again after the quarters.)

Uefa have been throwing ersatz Super Bowl shapes at the Champions League final for a few years, and now Fifa are getting in on the act. Ellie Goulding, a big England fan, will perform a half-time show this evening. Not sure how long that’s scheduled to last. Factor in the hydration breaks and we could be here quite a while. “It’s a precursor to what will come at the final maybe,” deadpans David Hytner, upon breaking all of this news to me. “Getting everyone ready for the idea.”

England have got a pretty good goalscorer of their own, of course. Harry Kane saw the Three Lions through the group easily enough with two against Croatia and the clincher against Panama (and the less said about the other game the better) …

… then in the knockouts, that goal against the DR Congo and another at the Azteca. It’s been a campaign of fits and bursts really, but England are becoming masters of tournament football, and getting the job done. Another deep run is on.

Norway’s progress has been – this is not breaking news - all about Erling Haaland. Two goals against Iraq. Another brace against Senegal. A nice rest while the B team got some minutes against France.

Then in the knockouts, Haaland notched a late winner against Côte d’Ivoire, before sending Norwegian bunnies Brazil out of the competition in swashbuckling style. If Erling’s on one, all bets are off.

So how did we all get here? To tell the story properly, let’s go back to the beginning and reacquaint ourselves with both squads. In truth, not too much has changed since then … other than we’d need to crowbar in a bit about golf at the end of the England page. Oh Harry.

Some more on the conditions … courtesy of David Hytner, our man live from the coal face.

Tell you what Scott, it’s crazy hot inside the stadium. Myself, Barney Ronay and Ed Aarons have just set up in the press box, sat at our seats for five minutes and we’re all dripping in sweat. Imagine playing in this. The temperature at the moment is 33C. The real feel is 42C. According to Ed’s app, the humidity is 71pc.

Weather report. It’s currently 33C (91F) in Miami, and not expected to get any cooler come kick-off time. Once humidity is factored in, it’s likely to feel around 41C (106F). Phew, what a scorcher, etc. Will that give Norway an advantage? They played Brazil under 31C sun in New Jersey last weekend; the most extreme weather England have dealt with so far has been a 25C ramble under cloud, also in New Jersey, against Panama. So it’s a toss-up between experience and fatigue levels: you decide, and the truth will out. The conditions aren’t expected to exceed Fifa guidelines, so there’s no chance of the game being called off … but there could be a weather delay should lightning strike within eight miles of Miami Stadium, in which case it’s a 30-minute postponement, the countdown clock reset every time there’s more electrical activity. But for now, fingers crossed for 5pm local time/10pm BST/7am AEST … and stay hydrated all y’all.