England secured a place in the semifinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after a 2–1 extra-time victory over Norway, with Jude Bellingham scoring both goals to inspire the comeback.
Head coach Thomas Tuchel praised Bellingham, describing the Real Madrid midfielder as “world class” following his match-winning performance. “Enough said, he does it every match. World class,” Tuchel told ITV, as quoted by Sky Sports.
Bellingham opened the scoring for England with a late first-half equalizer before netting the decisive goal in extra time, earning him the Player of the Match award. Despite the win, Tuchel emphasized the need for improvement ahead of the semifinal, stating, “We will get better, we need to get better. Now it’s celebrations. Now it’s taking it all in. We need everything to make a better performance.”
Norway started strongly, taking the lead in the 36th minute through Andreas Schjelderup, who capitalized on earlier pressure from Erling Haaland. England responded prior to halftime when Bellingham surged forward and calmly scored, while a Harry Kane goal was disallowed for offside shortly afterwards.
In the second half, Norway thought they had regained the lead through Torbjorn Heggem, but the goal was overturned by VAR due to a foul by Haaland on Elliot Anderson in the build-up. Norway continued to threaten, with Kristoffer Ajer hitting the crossbar, while England also came close through Djed Spence after a mistake by Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland.
With no winner in regular time, the match progressed to extra time where Bellingham capitalized on a spilled save by Nyland following a powerful Morgan Rogers shot to score from close range and secure England’s advancement.
England will face either reigning champions Argentina or Switzerland in the semifinals at Atlanta Stadium on July 15. Both Bellingham and captain Harry Kane have now scored six goals each at the tournament, marking the first time two England players have achieved at least five goals in a single World Cup edition.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also reached a milestone by making his 18th FIFA World Cup appearance, becoming England’s most-capped goalkeeper in World Cup history, surpassing Peter Shilton’s record of 17 matches.
The defeat ended Norway’s memorable campaign, which included their first-ever FIFA World Cup quarterfinal appearance, surpassing previous best finishes in the Round of 16 in 1938 and 1998, as well as a group-stage appearance in 1994.
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