Bellingham’s Goals Propel England to a 2–1 Victory Over Norway, Onto Semifinals

Jude Bellingham redirected a bobbled ball past Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland in the first half of extra time to lead England to a 2–1 win and keep his nation’s hopes alive for a second World Cup title.

Substitute Morgan Rogers set up the goal with a low, hard shot and when Nyland attempted to catch the ball with his palms up and his hands below his chest, he failed to absorb the ball, sending it directly into the path of Bellingham, who slid to direct it with his toes.

Bellingham also scored in the first half. He’s now tied with team captain Harry Kane with six goals in this tournament.

Norway scored first. Midfielder Andreas Schjelderup settled a long ball played forward to him, took a few strides down the left side and struck a left-footed shot to the top right corner of England’s goal.

England struck back in first-half stoppage time. Left winger Anthony Gordon received a short pass on an overlapping run and delivered a quick cross on the grass to Bellingham. Bellingham took on two defenders in Norway’s penalty box, feinting to the left and then blasting a low shot into the left corner of the net.

The pace of the game, played at Miami Stadium in stifling 90-degree heat, started very slow, with Norway happy to sit back and absorb pressure. England showed no early interest in setting up one-on-one matchups with its speedy forwards against a big, compact defensive bloc that was looking to play long ball to star striker Erling Haaland.

Norway changed its tactics following the first hydration break and started pressuring England in its own end to create turnovers.

Norway scored again in the 55th minute after a loose ball on a Norway corner kick was half-volleyed into the England net, but the goal was disallowed because Erling Haaland pushed an England defender to the ground with two hands ahead of the play.

Haaland, Norway’s star player who scored both goals to beat Brazil in the round of 16, sustained an injury and was subbed out before the second half of extra time.

This has been Norway’s best finish at a World Cup, while England won its sole World Cup title in 1966.

Three of England’s starting defenders played for club team Manchester City alongside Haaland and had experience defending him in practice.

Haaland scored seven goals in this tournament, while Harry Kane has six. Bellingham now also has six; two of which he scored in 98 seconds against Mexico in the round of 16.

England supporters sang the Beatles classic song “Hey Jude” in the final minutes of the match, and applauded Bellingham when he was subbed out in the second half of extra time.

After the final whistle, the crowd and elated England players belted out Oasis’ “Wonderwall,” the unofficial theme song for English soccer.

England Coach Thomas Tuchel commended individual performances by some of his players but said the team as a whole “was sloppy and not fast enough.”

“We’re in the last four and it’s amazing, but I’m not happy with the performance,” he told a FIFA reporter after the game.

“We got lucky today.”