Image source: Alamy Stock Photo
England have advanced into the Semifinals of the 2026 World Cup after a hard-earned 2-1 win over Norway in Miami.
Jude Bellingham scored both goals for the Three Lions, who overcame a determined Vikings outfit over 120 minutes in the South Florida heat to set up a clash with either Argentina or Switzerland in Atlanta on Wednesday 15 July.
After a quiet opening half hour, Norway began to come to life in attack and claimed the lead in the 36th minute, with Andreas Schjelderup having a speculative shot-cross from the left of the penalty area that caught out England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and went in via the inside of the far post.
The Vikings were close to doubling their lead four minutes later, as Alexander Sorloth cracked off a volley that flashed just over the target, before Martin Odegaard forced a sharp save low to his left for Pickford.
England had flattered to deceive in attack through the first half, but they came up with an equaliser out of nowhere in injury time. Anthony Gordon played a low cross to the edge of the box to find Jude Bellingham, who drove into space and finished with a low shot past goalkeeper Orjan Nyland for 1-1.
Harry Kane thought he had put England ahead on the stroke of half time, when he impishly dinked the ball beyond Nyland, but he was correctly flagged offside – leaving the game level at the interval.
The Three Lions made a double change at the start of the second half, with Eberechi Eze and Bukayo Saka replacing Declan Rice and Noni Madueke.
Norway had the ball in the back of the net via Torbjorn Heggem at a corner kick in the 55th minute, but the goal was disallowed via VAR review for a foul by Erling Haaland.
Just over 20 minutes later the Vikings were inches away from reclaiming the lead, with a corner kick giving David Wolfe a heading chance, but his effort crashed back off the crossbar – England were ultimately able to scramble clear.
The teams each had half-chances in what remained of regulation time, but the 90 plus minutes closed with the score still 1-1.
Yet it took just three minutes of extra time for the deadlock to be broken – substitute Morgan Rogers hit a long-range drive that was saved by Nyland, but fumbled back into the danger area and swept home by a quick-reacting Bellingham for a 2-1 lead to England.
In the 100th minute the Three Lions thought they had earned a penalty when Djed Spence was brought to ground by Oscar Bobb, but a VAR review saw the spot kick ruled out.
The second half of extra time saw England look for a killer goal, but both Spence and Saka had efforts well saved by Nyland to keep the Vikings just about alive in the contest.
And the Scandinavians built up a spell of attacking pressure in the dying minutes, but just as against Mexico in the previous round, England were able to hold firm in defence for another famous victory.
Norway (1) (1) 1 (A. Schjelderup 36’)
England (1) (1) 2 (J. Bellingham 45+2’ 93’)
Norway: O. Nyland, J. Ryerson (F. Aursnes 60’), K. Ajer, T. Heggem (L. Ostigard 91’), D. Wolfe (M. Pedersen 90’), M. Odegaard, S. Berge, P. Berg, A. Sorloth (O. Bobb 68’), A. Schjelderup (A. Nusa 68’), E. Haaland (J.S. Larsen 106’)
England: J. Pickford, E. Konsa (M. Rogers 89’), J. Stones, M. Guehi, N. O’Reilly (D. Spence 86’), E. Anderson, D, Rice (E. Eze 46’), N. Madueke (B. Saka 46’), J. Bellingham (D. Burn 111’), A. Gordon (R. James 71’), H. Kane
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