Norway's World Cup dream ended in a storm of controversy as they fell 2-1 to England in Miami, with the Scandinavians fuming over a spidercam incident that allowed Jude Bellingham's equaliser to stand.
Andreas Schjelderup had given Norway a shock lead with a cross that flew in off the post, but the game turned in first-half stoppage time. A goal kick from Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland sailed close to the spidercam cable suspended above the pitch. The ball dropped to Elliot Anderson, who fed Anthony Gordon, and his pass found Bellingham to drive calmly home.
“Norway furious after Bellingham's equaliser allowed despite apparent spidercam wire touch.”
Norway players immediately surrounded referee Clement Turpin, arguing the ball had struck the wire – which under FIFA rules should have stopped play and led to a dropped ball. But Turpin let the goal stand, and after a VAR review, FIFA confirmed there was no touch. The chip inside the ball also sent no signal of contact.
"He says that he didn't see it himself and that he didn't get any message that it actually happened," Norway coach Stale Solbakken said of Turpin. "That's a good explanation and since Fifa says there was no touch and there was no signal from the chip of the ball, then he can't do anything about it. The ball fell straight down, right in front of the bench, so it did touch it."
Speaking on the BBC, former England striker Wayne Rooney noted: "The ball seems to deviate and come down quickly. It sort of deviates the ball."
Norway's frustration deepened in the second half when Torbjorn Heggem had a header ruled out by VAR after Erling Haaland was penalised for a shove on Anderson as a corner was taken. "It's an advantage to be as big and physically strong as Erling, but you get punished if you hold a player," midfielder Sander Berge said.
Berge also blasted the spidercam call: "It's ridiculous, this one with the wire. 2-1 says itself – there are small margins and we know which way it went."
Schjelderup was blunt: "Unfortunately the margins were against us, the odds were against us. Some decisions by the referee were a bit bitter. If we lost fully it would have been a bit different."
Captain Martin Odegaard added: "Margins were not in our favour today with some of the decisions. Maybe you need that in games like this."
Bellingham went on to score a second in extra time to send England into the semi-finals, leaving Norway to wonder what might have been. Solbakken admitted: "We were lucky against Brazil, today we were not so lucky. The margins were not in our favour, but that's life."