England booked their place in the semi-finals of the World Cup as another double from Jude Bellingham clinched a 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway in Miami.
Five days on from his two-goal heroics against Mexico, Bellingham proved England’s saviour again as he cancelled out Andreas Schjelderup’s opener with a superb finish in first-half stoppage time before pouncing from close range to score the winner in extra-time.
The goals take the 23-year-old to six at the tournament, putting him level with Harry Kane and only one behind Erling Haaland, who struggled to make an impact for Norway in a gruelling contest impacted by the hot and humid Florida conditions.
England will face either Argentina or Switzerland in only the third World Cup semi-final in their history but had to overcome adversity to get there after Jordan Pickford was beaten by Schjelderup’s cross-shot for Norway’s freak opening goal.
Norway was aggrieved Bellingham’s equaliser, fired into the net after a driving run into the box, was allowed to stand, claiming Orjan Nyland’s goal kick struck an overhead camera cable before falling to Elliot Anderson in the build-up, but FIFA insisted the matchball’s sensor did not register any contact.
Norway had spurned chances to double their lead before that, most notably when Alexander Sorloth failed to square the ball to Haaland during a two-on-one counter-attack, but they were made to pay for their wastefulness as Bellingham’s remarkable tournament continued.
With penalties looming, he completed England’s comeback by reacting quickest to Nyland’s spill from substitute Morgan Rogers’ long-range shot to force the ball over the line and haul Thomas Tuchel’s side over the line for a second consecutive knockout tie.
Bellingham and Harry Kane are now on six goals apiece, making it the first time two England players have scored at least five times at a single edition of the tournament.
The Lions goalkeeper, Jordan Pickford made history by becoming England’s most-capped goalkeeper at World Cups, with his 18th tournament appearance surpassing Peter Shilton’s record.
Speaking after the game, England Manager, Thomas Tuchel said : “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic – we’re in the last four – but I’m not happy with the performance. We got lucky today. We need to play better. We will get better, we need to get better.”
