FIFA World Cup 2026 | Quarter-Final, Match 99 | Saturday, 11 July 2026 Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida | Referee: TBC
It was 108 degrees Fahrenheit in Miami. The heat index. The actual temperature was 90. The humidity pushed it to something that made every sprint feel like running through wet concrete. Both teams felt it. Neither gave in.
England won 2-1 in extra time. Jude Bellingham with both goals. Norway’s Heggem had a goal disallowed. Haaland limped off in the 105th minute. And the Three Lions are in the World Cup semi-final for the first time since 2018.
The hero was Bellingham. Six goals at this tournament now. The first England midfielder to score four or more goals in a World Cup campaign. And the manner of the second — reacting quickest when Nyland spilled a long-range shot in the 93rd minute of extra time — was exactly the kind of goal that defines big players at big moments. Chaos in the area. Ball loose. Bellingham already moving before anyone else realised what had happened.
The first half moved slowly. Both teams showed the heat’s effect immediately — sprints were shorter, passes less crisp, the usual intensity of a knockout quarter-final slightly muffled by conditions that would test elite athletes in any sport. England had most of the ball. Kane had a free-kick in the 29th minute that sailed over. Haaland headed straight at Pickford in the 35th and the crowd stirred.
Then the 36th minute. Kane had his pocket picked inside the England half — a clumsy loss of possession that handed Norway the counter. Schjelderup found space on the left and drove a blistering left-footed strike across goal. It hit the inside of the post and flew into the net. One-nil. Norway in front. The England bench looked at each other with expressions they have had before in tournament knockout football.
Bellingham answered before the break. He equalised in first-half stoppage time — the second minute of added time — with a goal that pulled England level and settled the nerves heading into the dressing rooms. One-all at half-time. A fair reflection of a first 45 that had belonged to nobody clearly enough to deserve a lead.
The second half had the game’s biggest controversy. After a corner kick bounced around in the England box, Torbjørn Heggem fired it home. Norway in front. The celebration was enormous. VAR reviewed it. Haaland had pushed an England player to the ground just before the corner was taken. Goal disallowed. Norway’s bench was furious. Haaland kicked the advertising board. The crowd made a noise that you would rather not hear directed at you.
Solbakken’s response was to push more numbers forward. Alexander Sørloth blazed over when well-placed later in the half. Ødegaard hit a low drive from outside the area that Pickford — making his 18th World Cup appearance for England, a new record — got down to his left to save. Norway were the better side in the second half and had nothing to show for it.
England survived. Somehow. The full-time whistle confirmed extra time. Both teams looked spent. Ninety minutes in 108-degree heat index conditions on top of the previous games of a month-long tournament. Nobody had much left.
In the 93rd minute of extra time — three minutes after the restart — Bellingham got the winner. Nyland went down to save a long-range strike and could not hold it. The rebound sat up. Bellingham had already read it, already moved, already had his foot through the ball before anyone else in the area understood what was happening. Two-one. England ahead.
Haaland was taken off in the 105th minute having appeared to suffer a knock. Jørgen Strand Larsen replaced him. Norway continued. Long throw-ins from their centre-backs cleared by John Stones. A late corner England managed through short possession in the 98th minute. Nothing else. The final whistle at 120 minutes confirmed it.
England versus Argentina on Wednesday. At MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The match that everything in world football has been building toward since the quarter-final draw was made. Messi versus Kane. The defending champions against the World Cup’s most successful knockout team of this edition.
For Norway, the exit ends something remarkable. Their first World Cup this century. Their first quarter-final in any major tournament in history. They beat Brazil. They pushed England to extra time in 108-degree conditions. Heggem’s goal would have stood in a different era without VAR. None of that changes the outcome but all of it belongs to the story.
Haaland scored in all four of his appearances before the quarter-final. He did not score on Saturday. He still left Miami having announced himself as one of the most compelling figures of the 2026 World Cup.
For live World Cup scores and semi-final coverage, visit fawanews.org.uk. Full results and bracket at the official FIFA World Cup website.
Norway 1-2 England (AET) FIFA World Cup 2026, Quarter-Final, Match 99 | Saturday, 11 July 2026 Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
Goals: Andreas Schjelderup 36′ (Norway), Jude Bellingham 45’+2′ (England), Jude Bellingham 93′ AET (England — rebound, Nyland spill)
Disallowed: Torbjørn Heggem (Norway, second half — Haaland foul in build-up to corner)
Norway (4-3-3): Nyland; Møller Wolfe, Ajer, Heggem, Ryerson; Berge, Berg, Ødegaard; Schjelderup, Haaland (Strand Larsen 105′), Bobb (Nusa 63′)
England (4-2-3-1): Pickford (record 18th WC appearance); Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guéhi, Robertson; Rice, Anderson; Madueke (Rashford 79′), Bellingham, Gordon; Kane
Stats: Possession Norway 44% — England 47% (9% contested) | Attempts 13-14 | On Target 4-7 | Half-time: 1-1 | Full-time 90 min: 1-1
Records: Bellingham — 6 World Cup goals, first England midfielder with 4+ in a WC campaign. Pickford — 18th World Cup appearance, England record. Haaland — scored in all four previous matches, did not score Saturday.
Semi-final: England vs Argentina (MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey — Wednesday 16 July)
