Disputed Bellingham equaliser survives 'cable-gate' review as England edge Norway 2-1 in extra time

The spidercam incident

In the 45+2 minute of the first half, with Norway leading 1-0 through Andreas Schjelderup's 36th-minute strike, goalkeeper Orjan Nyland launched a long goal kick. Fox Sports cameras captured what appeared to be the ball grazing a cable supporting the stadium's spidercam, altering its trajectory before it fell to England's Elliot Anderson. Anderson passed to Anthony Gordon, who found Bellingham to smash home the equaliser. Norwegian players and bench immediately protested, pointing to the sky and the camera. Second coach Kent Bergersen told reporters at half-time,

Just before the goal, the ball hits the cable that carries the camera, which causes a change of direction and ends up in a shorter kick than it should. The referee should have seen it.

FIFA's sensor defence and the referee's call

Referee Clément Turpin and VAR official Jérôme Brisard, both French, did not review the play. Under IFAB Law 8.2, contact with an external agent requires play to stop and a drop ball restart. The incident quickly became known as 'cable-gate'. FIFA responded with a statement citing data from the Connected Ball sensor.

The sensor on the ball did not show any peak in the ball’s ‘heart rate’ while in the air, and therefore there is no evidence that it touched the overhead cable and altered its movement.

Head coach Stale Solbakken later said,

The ball fell from the sky and I think it did touch. It falls vertically, it's clear that it hit the cable. Something very strange.

The official score stood, and the teams went to half-time level.

Norway's double frustration: disallowed goal and Haaland substitution

Norway thought they had retaken the lead in the second half when Torbjorn Heggem headed in from a corner, but VAR spotted a shove by Erling Haaland on Anderson and the goal was disallowed. The match went to extra time, where goalkeeper Nyland's fumble allowed Bellingham to score the 93rd-minute winner. Shortly before that, Solbakken made a surprising substitution.

It wasn’t a difficult decision to take him out because he was finished. Perhaps I should have done it ten minutes earlier.

Haaland, who had netted seven goals in five World Cup matches, admitted,

I’m completely exhausted. These were the best six weeks I’ve ever had, maybe in my entire life.

He was substituted at the halt of extra time, leaving the field to watch from the bench.

Haaland picks England and backs Bellingham

After the loss, Haaland surprisingly declared his support for England in the tournament remainder.

Of course I want England to win. In fact, as a child I had an England shirt before a Norway one. It’s a good country and a nice shirt.

He was born in Leeds while his father Alf-Inge Haaland played there. Haaland praised Bellingham as "one of the best in the world" and said both England and Real Madrid were "very lucky" to have him. Alfie Haaland reacted to the defeat on social media with a sarcastic post replying to journalist Fabrizio Romano: "Well done, Jude Bellingham and referee."

Tuchel's harsh assessment

England coach Thomas Tuchel was unimpressed with the performance.

We made life very, very difficult for ourselves. The result is fantastic. We are among the last four. It’s incredible, but I’m not happy with the performance… in any sense.

England now advance to the semi-finals against either France or Argentina, while Norway exit having reached their first last-eight stage. Solbakken reflected, "There are things that happened today that are a little strange, but that’s also part of football."