England secures semifinal spot

By Ishaan Kapoor — 12 July 2026 — 3 min read

England has advanced to the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 following a 2-1 extra-time victory against Norway at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. The match saw a dramatic finish, with Jude Bellingham scoring the decisive goal in the third minute of extra time. His goal came after Orjan Nyland, Norway’s goalkeeper, failed to control a shot from Morgan Rogers, allowing Bellingham to pounce on the rebound. This marked Bellingham’s sixth goal of the tournament, putting him on par with teammate Harry Kane.

Norway initially took the lead in the 36th minute when Andreas Schjelderup scored, striking the ball off the right post and into the net. The goal put the possession-dominant Three Lions behind in the quarterfinal match.

Controversy surrounding equalizer

The match was not without controversy, particularly surrounding England’s equalizer just before halftime. A goal kick from Norway appeared to make contact with an aerial camera cable before dropping to Elliot Anderson, who then passed to Bellingham for the low equalizer. According to tournament rules, play should have been stopped for a drop ball if the ball had indeed touched an outside object like an overhead cable. However, the infraction went unnoticed by officials, leading to protests from the Norwegian bench and head coach Stale Solbakken.

FIFA later addressed the incident, releasing a statement that dismissed claims of the ball touching the wire. The organization stated that there was “no evidence” that the ball had touched the wire. The Connected Ball Technology (CBT), which is used in the 2026 World Cup, features a motion sensor that transmits data 500 times per second to assist the VAR system, primarily for offside decisions but also capable of detecting ball contact with players or other objects.

VAR disallows Norway’s potential lead

Norway’s fortunes continued to be affected in the second half. In the 56th minute, Torbjørn Heggem scored from a rebound, which initially appeared to give Norway the lead. However, the goal was subsequently disallowed by VAR due to a foul committed by Erling Haaland in the box during the build-up. This decision further fueled the drama of the quarterfinal.

England’s defense, notably anchored by goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, managed to neutralize Manchester City talisman Erling Haaland, preventing him from scoring for the first time in the tournament. Pickford made a crucial point-blank save against Haaland in the first half. Haaland was eventually substituted for Jorgen Strand Larsen during the second half of extra time, marking the end of Norway’s aerial threat.

England’s ability to come back after conceding first has been a notable development in this tournament, having achieved this feat twice in their last three matches after not doing so in a World Cup knockout match since the 1966 final before this tournament. The team will now travel to Atlanta for a semifinal clash on Wednesday against either Argentina or Switzerland.

Before the match, both teams observed a moment of silence to honor South African midfielder Jayden Adams, whose passing was announced on Saturday.