Norway boss fumes as VAR ignores Bellingham's spidercam-assisted equaliser in World Cup exit

England survived a major controversy to eliminate Norway 2-1 in the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals, with Jude Bellingham’s equaliser standing despite the ball appearing to strike an overhead spidercam cable before falling to the midfielder just before half-time.

Norway head coach Stål Solbakken was unambiguous in his assessment of the incident after the final whistle. “The ball fell straight down from the sky and changed directions,” he said, adding that the match referee told him he had not seen anything untoward and that the in-ball movement chip registered no contact — a detail Solbakken openly questioned.

“I cannot say anything on that because there is no movement in the chip. What can I say against that? But the ball falls straight down in front of Haaland,” Solbakken said. “I wonder also what happened, but I think it is pretty clear that it did hit the wire. It was a strange thing.”

The goal arrived at a pivotal moment. Norway had been the dominant side in the first half and came close to doubling their lead, only for striker Alexander Sørloth to pass up a clear two-on-one opportunity by failing to square to a wide-open Erling Haaland. England capitalised almost immediately, with Bellingham converting after the ball dropped from the cable directly into his path.

Solbakken acknowledged the fine margins that define knockout football at this level. “We can sit here and complain and maybe we can feel rightly that the small details did not go in our favor. Against Brazil, they did. That’s how it is in football,” he said. “But maybe we need those small details to go in our favor to beat England, Brazil and other teams in the top five in the world.”

Despite the defeat, the Norway manager was keen to highlight his squad’s progress. He insisted this group can “go toe-to-toe” with the world’s best, pointing to Haaland’s tournament record of seven goals in five games as evidence of their quality.

Solbakken also addressed the late substitution of Haaland, which raised eyebrows given the scoreline. “It was not a tough decision because he was finished and maybe I should have taken him out 10 minutes before,” he said. “He obviously had a tremendous World Cup. He also got a dead leg in the second half so that combined with the fatigue, but he did everything he could.”

With VAR offering no intervention and the referee satisfied, the goal stood — and England advance to the semi-finals.