Jude Bellingham once again became England’s hero by scoring two goals, leading the Three Lions to a 2-1 victory over Norway after extra time, ending Norway’s impressive streak and advancing to the World Cup semi-finals on Saturday.
In their inaugural quarter-final, Andreas Schjelderup propelled Norway to an unexpected advantage in the intense Miami heat.
However, Bellingham, who also scored twice in a notable 3-2 victory against Mexico in the round of 16, created a magical moment to level the score right before half-time.
Norway’s second goal was controversially ruled out after a VAR review in the second half due to a foul by Erling Haaland, as both teams were pushed to their physical extremes during extra time.
Bellingham created another significant moment by capitalizing on a mistake from Orjan Nyland to score his sixth goal of the tournament for the victory.
On Wednesday, England will play against either Argentina or Switzerland for an opportunity to reach their first World Cup final in six decades.
“We are in the last four. It’s amazing but not happy with the performance in every sense,” said England boss Thomas Tuchel.
“We made life difficult for ourselves in the way we played and how we played—sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.”
Haaland’s run of scoring in his last 14 competitive matches for Norway came to an end against the land of his birth, with Norway’s exhausted talisman replaced at half-time of extra time.
Having failed to win a World Cup knockout game after conceding first since the final of 1966 before this tournament, the Three Lions of England have now done so twice in three matches.
The 5:00 pm local time (2100 GMT) start in Florida resulted in temperatures staying above 30 degrees Celsius, with high humidity creating exhausting conditions for the players.
The heat seemed likely to ruin the event as the first quarter unfolded at a leisurely speed. It came to life when Schjelderup’s shot soared past Jordan Pickford into the upper corner.
Norway unexpectedly unsettled Tuchel’s team, who were left to rue missing the chance to extend their advantage.
Pickford made a low save from Martin Odegaard before Alexander Sorloth squandered a fantastic opportunity by choosing to shoot instead of passing to Haaland.
Bellingham swiftly lifted his team out of the quagmire again.
Bellingham had been well organized until he received Anthony Gordon’s pass, surged into the area quickly, and then finished with his weaker left foot.
Momentum shifted abruptly in favor of England, and they almost went into halftime in the lead.
Bellingham played the role of provider for Kane, who softly lifted the ball over Nyland but had just strayed offside.
Tuchel brought on Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze at halftime for the unproductive Noni Madueke and Declan Rice—the Arsenal player had been dealing with illness earlier in the week.
However, those alterations resulted in England being weak in midfield, causing them to struggle at times during the second half.
Torbjorn Heggem capitalized on poor defending to score at the back post, but Haaland was called for pushing his new Manchester City teammate Elliott Anderson prior to the corner being taken, resulting in the goal being ruled out.
Norway came close to scoring once more when Kristoffer Ajer struck the crossbar after England struggled to handle another threatening corner.
Both teams clearly fatigued in the energy-draining conditions late on but had to persist through an additional 30 minutes.
Nyland played a crucial role in Norway’s last 16 victory over Brazil, making several saves before Haaland scored twice in the closing moments for a historic win.
On this occasion, the Sevilla keeper was at fault as he let go of a long-range shot from substitute Morgan Rogers, allowing Bellingham to seize the opportunity and score.
A penalty was awarded to England soon after, but VAR stepped in to rule in Norway’s favor, stating that Djed Spence had made contact inside the box.
Still, Norway’s morale was already shattered, symbolized by a slumped Haaland sitting on the bench with nothing left to offer.
