England goal controversy: Norway claim spidercam interference

Norway's impressive World Cup campaign ended in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat by England, but their exit was accompanied by frustration as they felt Jude Bellingham's equaliser should have been disallowed for an unusual reason. The Norwegians claimed the ball struck one of the spidercam wires in the build-up to Bellingham's goal in Miami. Had it been determined that the ball had touched a wire, the goal would have been ruled out and play restarted with a dropped ball.

Norway's complaints

"It's ridiculous, this one with the wire," Norway and Fulham midfielder Sander Berge said after the game. "[The result] 2-1 says itself – there are small margins and we know which way it went." Norway captain Martin Odegaard also questioned the refereeing calls in the last-eight tie. "I didn't see it myself [the incident], but margins were not in our favour today with some of the decisions," he said. "Maybe you need that in games like this."

Norway were also left aggrieved when a second-half header from Torbjorn Heggem was ruled out following a video assistant referee (VAR) review that penalised Erling Haaland for a shove on Elliot Anderson as a corner was taken. "It's an advantage to be as big and physically strong as Erling, but you get punished if you hold a player," Berge said.

The incident in question

England were trailing to Andreas Schjelderup's opener for Norway when the incident in the build-up to their equaliser occurred in first-half stoppage time. Replays showed Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland's goal kick passing close to the spidercam cable suspended above the playing surface. The ball then fell for Elliot Anderson, who fed Anthony Gordon before the England winger passed for Jude Bellingham to drive on to the ball and calmly score. Several Norway players immediately surrounded referee Clement Turpin, arguing the goal should not have stood. Head coach Stale Solbakken was seen talking to the match official at half-time.

Of the decision, Solbakken said: "He [the referee] says that he didn't see it himself and that he didn't get any message that it actually happened. That's a good explanation and since Fifa says there was no touch and there was no signal from the chip of the ball, then he can't do anything about it. The ball fell straight down, right in front of the bench, so it did touch it. Many on the bench reacted immediately. I was not one of them, but many of them saw it."

FIFA's response

FIFA later said there was "no evidence" the ball had touched a wire. FIFA Media posted on X: "Before England's goal in minute 45+2 against Norway, the sensor in the connected ball showed no peak in the 'heartbeat of the ball' when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball." Solbakken added: "I can't say anything about that because if there was no sound from the chip, what can I say? The ball dropped down straight from heaven, says everyone – including the goalie, including the guy who was going to receive the ball. I think it was pretty clear that it did. It was a strange thing."

Speaking on BBC Sport, former England striker Wayne Rooney said: "The ball seems to deviate and come down quickly. It sort of deviates the ball."

Snicko technology controversy

The Snickometer-style technology, usually associated with cricket, had already been at the centre of controversy at this tournament during Portugal's dramatic 2-1 victory over Croatia in the last 32. Croatia thought they had equalised deep into stoppage time through Josko Gvardiol, but their celebrations were cut short after the technology deemed Igor Matanovic had made a slight touch in attempting to flick the ball on in the build-up while in an offside position. England head coach Thomas Tuchel said: "There is a chip in the ball who can tell you if a hair touches it as we know since the Croatia v Portugal game, so they should be able to tell you if it [a touch] happened [here]."