Norway vs England FIFA World Cup 2026: Bellingham Double Sends England to World Cup Semi-Finals After 2-1 Win Over Norway

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England are through to the FIFA World Cup 2026 semi-finals after a gritty 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway in a breathtaking display of grit, individual brilliance and knockout drama at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on July 11. Jude Bellingham was the man of the match for the Three Lions in a quarter-final clash that will be remembered for its sheer intensity as he scored twice to cancel out a historic effort from a resilient Scandinavian side.

Stale Solbakken’s Norway were anything but pushovers from the first whistle, having already sent shockwaves through the tournament by eliminating Brazil. They began with a disciplined defensive block, closing down England’s fluid lines of passing and with menace in the counter. The moment of inspiration came in the 36th minute when the midfield prodigy Andreas Schjelderup took advantage of a mistake in the English backline and fired a precise shot past Jordan Pickford to give the underdogs the lead.

The goal galvanised Thomas Tuchel’s men but they couldn’t unlock the stubborn Norwegian rearguard marshalled by Kristoffer Ajer. Just as frustration threatened to boil over on the brink of half-time, England found their lifeline. It was the Real Madrid man Bellingham, who provided a moment of pure class deep into stoppage time, latching onto a loose ball in the penalty area to fire home a vital equaliser.

The second half became a tactical chess match, marked by tired legs and nervous energy in the humid Florida air. Tuchel looked to his bench for energy, bringing on Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze. Norway had a late scare that VAR overturned. Neither side could break the deadlock in regulation time so it went into a tense additional 30 minutes.

And the moment that would settle the contest came almost immediately in extra time. In the 93rd minute Bellingham showed his world-class spatial awareness, smashing home his second of the evening to turn the tie completely on its head. Norway pushed everything forward in a desperate search for a way back, even throwing on Jorgen Strand Larsen for an exhausted Erling Haaland, but England’s defensive resilience, with late sub Dan Burn to the fore, held firm under intense pressure. “We were lucky,” Tuchel admitted afterwards, but the way England find a way to win means they are only two wins away from the ultimate global glory.