England advances to World Cup semifinals after extra-time victory over Norway

By Rohan Gupta — 12 July 2026 — 3 min read

England secured a spot in the FIFA World Cup 2026 semifinals following a 2-1 extra-time victory against Norway at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The match was marked by dramatic moments, including a controversial equalizer and a late winner from Jude Bellingham.

Bellingham emerged as a key player, scoring his sixth goal of the tournament in the third minute of extra time. His decisive strike came after Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland failed to control a shot from Morgan Rogers, allowing Bellingham to pounce on the rebound. This goal brought him level with teammate Harry Kane in the tournament’s scoring charts.

Controversial Equalizer Sparks Debate

The match saw its first goal from Norway in the 36th minute, when Andreas Schjelderup scored, stunning England. However, a significant controversy arose just before halftime concerning England‘s equalizer. A goal kick from Nyland appeared to make contact with an aerial camera cable before falling to Elliot Anderson, who then set up Bellingham for a low shot that found the back of the net.

According to the Laws of the Game, if the ball touches an outside object like an overhead cable, play should be stopped and restarted with a dropped ball. Despite this rule, play continued, leading to immediate protests from Norway‘s bench, including head coach Stale Solbakken, who pointed towards the overhead cables. Social media clips of the incident circulated widely after halftime, intensifying discussions about officiating in the tournament.

FIFA later addressed the controversy, releasing a statement that dismissed claims of the ball touching the wire. The statement indicated that the sensor in the Connected Ball, which sends data 500 times per second, showed no peak in its ‘heartbeat’ while in the air. This technology, known as Connected Ball Technology (CBT), is designed to assist the VAR system by detecting ball contact with players or other objects, primarily to improve offside decisions.

The drama continued into the second half when Norway believed they had taken the lead. Torbjørn Heggem bundled in a rebound, but the goal was subsequently disallowed by VAR due to a foul committed by Erling Haaland in the box during the build-up.

England’s Resilience and Path Forward

England‘s defense, anchored by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, successfully contained Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland, preventing him from scoring for the first time in the tournament. Pickford notably made a point-blank save against Haaland in the first half. An exhausted Haaland was substituted for Jorgen Strand Larsen during the second period of extra time, signaling the end of Norway‘s aerial threat.

This victory marks a significant achievement for England, who have now overcome a deficit to win a World Cup knockout match twice in their last three games, a feat they had not accomplished since the 1966 final before this tournament. The defeat also ended Haaland‘s streak of scoring in 14 consecutive competitive internationals for Norway.

England will now travel to Atlanta for their semifinal match on Wednesday, where they are set to face either Argentina or Switzerland. Before the match, both teams observed a moment of silence to honor 25-year-old South African midfielder Jayden Adams, whose passing was announced on Saturday.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Rohan Gupta

Sports Reporter