Jude Bellingham scored twice, including the winner in extra time, as England beat Norway 2-1 at Miami Stadium on Saturday to book their place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time.
Norway took the lead in the 36th minute through Andreas Schjelderup, whose brilliant strike stunned England. But Bellingham responded just before half-time, weaving into the box before finishing calmly to level the score.
The decisive moment came three minutes into extra time. Morgan Rogers’ powerful shot from distance was pushed away by Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, but Bellingham reacted quickest to score from the rebound.
It will be England’s fourth World Cup semi-final appearance after reaching the last four in 1966, 1990 and 2018.
Norway may have been knocked out, but they left the tournament with plenty of pride after their first World Cup appearance in 28 years. England also managed to keep Erling Haaland from scoring for the first time in his last 16 international matches.
The first half started cautiously, with both teams struggling to create chances in the hot conditions. Norway finally broke the deadlock after Patrick Berg won the ball from Harry Kane near the halfway line and set up Schjelderup, who beat Ezri Konsa before firing a powerful effort into the net.
Norway looked dangerous after taking the lead. Alexander Sorloth sent a shot over the bar, while Odegaard forced Jordan Pickford into a save. They also missed a great chance to make it 2-0 when Sorloth chose not to pass to the unmarked Haaland during a promising counter-attack.
England punished that missed opportunity just before the break. Anthony Gordon found Bellingham on the edge of the box, and the midfielder controlled the ball brilliantly before curling his shot into the far corner.
England pushed for another goal after half-time. Kane had the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.
VAR also denied Norway early in the second half when Torbjorn Heggem’s goal from a corner was disallowed because Haaland was judged to have fouled Elliot Anderson in the build-up.
Norway continued to threaten, especially after Oscar Bobb came on as a substitute. David Moller Wolfe came closest when his header hit the crossbar.
Bukayo Saka created two good chances late in the second half, but England could not find a winner in normal time. Djed Spence also nearly caught Nyland out after closing him down near the end of the 90 minutes.
England finally found the breakthrough in extra time through Bellingham’s second goal. VAR later overturned a penalty that had been awarded to England after Spence went down in the box.
Haaland was substituted during extra time as Norway searched for an equaliser, but England defended well to seal a place in the semi-finals.
