Jude Bellingham Scores Twice as England Eliminate Norway to Reach FIFA World Cup Semifinals

Jude Bellingham scored both goals in England‘s 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway in the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday, extending a knockout-round scoring streak that is fast becoming one of the defining individual performances in the tournament’s modern history. The Real Madrid midfielder’s brace at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida sent England into the semifinals, where they will face either Argentina or Switzerland on July 15 in Atlanta.

Saturday’s match unfolded in punishing conditions. Kickoff temperatures hit 90°F with a heat index reportedly reaching 108 degrees, and the humidity visibly sapped both sides as the game wore on. Norway, making their first-ever appearance in a World Cup quarterfinal after 28 years without even qualifying for the tournament, struck first through Andreas Schjelderup in the 36th minute. The Benfica winger’s mishit cross looped over Jordan Pickford after Harry Kane was dispossessed in midfield, a scrappy opening goal that nonetheless sent the Norwegian contingent into delirium. Alexander Sørloth then squandered a golden two-on-one opportunity by hesitating instead of releasing Erling Haaland, and Norway were made to pay.

Just before the break, Anthony Gordon drove in from the left flank and cut the ball back for Bellingham, who shifted onto his right foot to manufacture space before firing low past Ørjan Nyland to level the score in first-half stoppage time. The goal arrived amid immediate controversy. Moments earlier, Nyland’s goal kick appeared to strike the overhead spider-cam cable suspended above the pitch, altering the ball’s trajectory and allowing England’s Elliot Anderson to collect possession cheaply. Under the Laws of the Game, contact with an external object should result in a stoppage and a drop ball. Referee Clément Turpin and the VAR team did not intervene, and FIFA later released a statement asserting it found “no evidence” of contact between the ball and the cable. Norway manager Ståle Solbakken and Nyland both protested the decision to officials at the time.

Norway’s frustration compounded in the second half when Torbjørn Heggem bundled the ball home from a corner, only for Turpin to disallow the goal after adjudging that Haaland had pushed Anderson to the ground before the delivery. Chances grew scarce as exhaustion took hold in the Florida humidity, and the contest drifted into extra time.

It took Bellingham just three minutes to settle it. Morgan Rogers unleashed a strike from distance that Nyland could only parry, and Bellingham reacted first, turning the loose ball into the net for his sixth goal of the tournament. England still had to survive a nervous closing stretch: Djed Spence’s penalty appeal was overturned following a pitchside monitor review, and Tuchel introduced Dan Burn to fortify the backline as the Three Lions held on for a second semifinal in three World Cup editions.

Norway’s exit, while painful, closes a campaign that exceeded every reasonable expectation. A nation that last appeared at a World Cup in 1998 arrived in the United States and beat Ivory Coast in the Round of 32, stunned five-time champions Brazil 2-1 in the Round of 16 behind a Haaland brace, and pushed England to extra time in a quarterfinal. Haaland, who had scored in each of his first four tournament matches, was finally held scoreless. England became the first team to shut him out in a competitive international since Austria managed it in October 2024, a span of 636 days. The Manchester City striker was substituted for Jørgen Strand Larsen in the second period of extra time as Norway’s historic run came to a close.

England advance to the semifinals in Atlanta on July 15, where they will face the winner of Saturday’s Argentina-Switzerland quarterfinal.