Another VAR farce: Norway sent home from World Cup after Jude Bellingham’s controversial brace

Last Updated on 12 July 2026

Norway will spend a long time thinking about what might have been. They outplayed England for long stretched, hit the crossbar, and had a goal chalked off for a Haaland foul.

And then there was the moment that will define the entire match in history’s telling: a goal kick, a hanging wire, a ball that dropped somewhere it should not have, and Jude Bellingham arriving to punish all of it.

England are in the World Cup semi-finals. Norway are going home, and they have every right to feel robbed. In a tournament that has been defined by inconsistent refereeing decisions and inept management.

VAR farce strikes again in the World Cup: The poor explanation for the Bellingham goal v Norway

On the play that led to England’s equaliser, Nyland’s goal kick struck the FIFA spidercam wire suspended above the pitch, causing the ball to drop sharply to Elliot Anderson’s feet. Spidercam is not considered part of the pitch: hitting it is akin to the ball striking the referee.

So, play should have been called dead with a drop ball awarded to Norway. Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg said, “If the contact leads to a goal, it is part of the VAR reviewable incidents. The VAR should have noted the interference and ruled the goal null.”

Nyland rushed over to point at the cable above the pitch. Haaland protested to referee Clement Turpin. Solbakken was so furious he threw a water bottle at one of his own assistant coaches on the touchline. None of it mattered. VAR either did not see the contact, which is bad enough.

Or it did not deem it strong enough to affect the trajectory: a call that almost every independent analyst has since dismissed. England found Bellingham. Bellingham fired past Nyland. England were level at 1-1, from a goal that shouldn’t have stood.

Norway had a second goal disallowed in the 56th minute when VAR ruled Haaland had fouled Anderson before a corner, a correct decision according to Clattenburg, but one that Norway’s players found impossible to process given the first-half injustice. And, as a result, they are out.

Jude Bellingham is unstoppable – England are in dreamland

None of which diminishes what Bellingham has produced at this tournament. In the 93rd minute of extra time, Morgan Rogers’ shot was spilled by Nyland, a goalkeeper who had been outstanding all evening, and Bellingham pounced on the rebound to make it 2-1.

It is the second consecutive match in which Bellingham has scored a brace, taking him to six goals for the tournament. His equaliser was the right result at the wrong moment. His winner was the right goal at the right time.

England meet either Argentina or Switzerland in the semifinals on Wednesday. Haaland had seven World Cup goals and a broken heart. Bellingham has six, and a date with destiny. Norway gave everything. It was not enough. And the spidercam will haunt them for years.