Norway coach Stale Solbakken was seen coughing badly at a press conference after his side’s 4-1 group-stage loss to France, and that image didn’t exactly kill the rumors going around. Talk of a sickness bug moving through the Norway camp picked up right as the team got ready for the biggest game in its history. Norway’s first-ever World Cup quarter-final, against England this Saturday, July 11, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Solbakken has now tried to put those fears to rest. Miami Herald reporter Michelle Kaufman caught up with the coach at Norway’s training session in Fort Lauderdale and posted his response in a video on X.

“We spoke to the coach before,” she said. “He said that reports about a flu or cold going through the camp are greatly exaggerated, that it’s just a few staff members that were sick, that none of the players were sick. That was the main news coming out of the press conference.”

Now, while Erling Haaland’s name never really appeared as one of the sick ones, Norway fans had been the most worried about him. After all, Norway’s first World Cup since 1998 has ridden almost entirely on him. 

The concerns intensified considering how Solbakken himself confirmed Jorgen Strand Larsen missed Norway’s opener with a fever, and Marcus Holmgren Pedersen sat out the Round of 16 game after feeling unwell that morning. But Norway’s been based in Greensboro, North Carolina, bouncing between Boston, New Jersey and Dallas for group games before finally settling into South Florida this week. And that’s one of the reasons the coach presented.

“We’ve really only had Jorgen who has had a fever, but then there’s been a bit of coughing and rasping scattered throughout. But there’s air conditioning, flights, changing rooms and all that”.

That said, Norway’s own medical team has also pointed at rumors simply being rumors. Team doctor Ola Sand told Norwegian outlet Nettavisen that the squad is fully fit.

“All players are healthy now,” he said. “Very little fuss considering that we have been close together for almost six weeks.” Asked about the sickness-bug headlines running in the English papers, he added: “So great that they believe this. We are in control”.

That tracks with what Kaufman saw firsthand, a “spirited” session in the Fort Lauderdale heat. With Strand Larsen back to full health and Sand putting the story to bed, Norway can turn all its attention to England and a shot at their first-ever World Cup semi-final.