Haaland backs England to go further as Odegaard fumes over Bellingham's controversial equaliser

Erling Haaland has declared he will be cheering England on at the World Cup after Jude Bellingham’s brace ended Norway’s tournament in a 2-1 extra-time defeat, though Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was far less magnanimous about the result.

Haaland, whose Manchester City team-mates populate the England squad, said after the quarter-final: “Yes, why not. I have some City friends at England. Of course I want them to do well. I got an England shirt before I got a Norway shirt when I was little.”

The 25-year-old striker also defended Bellingham from what he described as unfair criticism. “Jude is a good friend. We had two great years at Dortmund. He is such a nice guy. I am not surprised that he is scoring today and performing the way he is. The only thing is that he gets a bit too much criticism sometimes for not scoring enough goals. I think that is undeserved.”

Haaland’s father, Alf-Inge, was considerably less diplomatic, posting on X: “Well done Bellingham and referee.”

Odegaard directed his frustration at the Spidercam incident that preceded Bellingham’s equaliser, which Norway argued should have been disallowed after the ball struck a wire suspended above the pitch. FIFA ruled the goal stood.

“It’s honestly a comedy that something like that is allowed to help decide a World Cup match at this level,” Odegaard said. “From what I’m told, it hits that wire, or cord, or whatever it is up there. And on the goal that was disallowed, the footage — it’s just bitter.”

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford pushed back on any suggestion that the game plan had been built solely around containing Haaland. “Everyone knows how good of a player Erling is, but we also know how good of a team Norway are,” Pickford said. “It’s not just an individual, it’s a team game and they played good today. They got the goal but we bounced back and had to go into deep waters in extra time to get the result.”