Bellingham Brace Sends England Past Norway After Extra Time to Reach FIFA World Cup 2026 Semi-finals

Khel Today Bureau 

Miami: Jude Bellingham scored twice, including the decisive winner in extra time, as England overcame a resilient Norway 2-1 in a gripping FIFA World Cup 2026 quarter-final to book their place in the semi-finals. Meeting for the first time since England’s 1-0 friendly victory in September 2014, the Three Lions extended their unbeaten run against Norway to five matches and maintained their dominance in the fixture. Bellingham cancelled out Norway’s first-half opener before striking the winner in the 93rd minute to send England into the last four.

The opening minutes saw England dominate possession as they looked to break down a sturdy and compact Norway side. Their biggest attacking threat came from the flanks, with Anthony Gordon, in particular, linking up well with Nico O’Reilly on the left to deliver dangerous balls into the box for Bellingham and Harry Kane.

England’s first promising attack arrived in the 19th minute when Gordon whipped in an inviting cross for Bellingham, whose trademark late run into the area was thwarted by the Norwegian defence. The Three Lions continued to probe, with O’Reilly and the wingers providing much of the creativity. The Manchester City full-back delivered a looping cross to Noni Madueke at the far post, who controlled it superbly before cutting the ball back into the area, but O’Reilly was unable to apply the finishing touch.

The momentum shifted in the 36th minute when Kane was dispossessed by Patrick Berg deep inside England’s half, allowing Martin Ødegaard to release Andreas Schjelderup down the left. The winger beat Ezri Konsa before delivering a teasing cross towards Erling Haaland. With the striker unable to make contact, the ball struck the inside of the post and bounced into the net to hand Norway a 1-0 lead.

England responded before the interval through Bellingham. Gordon once again got the better of Julian Ryerson before picking out the midfielder on the edge of the area. Bellingham showed superb composure, gliding past Torbjørn Heggem before guiding a left-footed finish into the bottom-right corner beyond Ørjan Nyland to restore parity. Kane thought he had completed the turnaround in first-half stoppage time after exchanging a neat one-two with Bellingham, but his chipped finish was ruled out for offside.

Thomas Tuchel made two changes at the break, introducing Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze, and England nearly made the perfect restart when Eze’s curling free-kick deflected narrowly behind before Saka saw a powerful effort blocked. Norway gradually regained control and thought they had restored their lead in the 55th minute when Heggem reacted quickest after Jordan Pickford had saved Berg’s initial effort from a corner. However, following a VAR review, the goal was ruled out for a foul by Haaland on Elliot Anderson in the build-up.

Norway continued to threaten from set-pieces, with Kristoffer Ajer heading against the crossbar before Haaland fired the rebound into the side netting. Antonio Nusa also tested Pickford with a low drive, while England came close through Saka and substitute Djed Spence, but neither side could find a winner in normal time.

The breakthrough finally arrived three minutes into extra time. After Nyland produced an excellent save to deny Kane, Morgan Rogers unleashed a swerving effort from distance that the Norwegian goalkeeper could only parry into the path of Bellingham, who tapped home from close range to give England the lead for the first time. England were then awarded a penalty moments later, only for VAR to overturn the decision after ruling that Spence had initiated the contact with Oscar Bobb.

Norway pushed desperately for an equaliser, with Berg firing narrowly over before Nyland produced an outstanding double save to deny Spence and Saka, keeping the Scandinavians in the contest. However, England defended resolutely to see out a hard-fought 2-1 extra-time victory. In doing so, they became the first team to keep Haaland scoreless in a competitive international for Norway since Austria in October 2024, ending a remarkable run of 636 days. England now advance to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals, where they will face the Argentina.