5 Things we learned from England’s extra-time win over Norway
When the lights shine the brightest that’s when your best players turn up. Just when it looked like England might be headed out tonight up stepped Jude Bellingham yet again to drag his country over the line just like the last round in the Azteca, the half started off very cagey as England dominated the ball with Norway looking to counter leaving Haaland up top by himself to try and bring the ball down. By the 30th minute Norway had got themselves into the game and opened the scoring a few minutes after as Odegaard played the ball out to the left for Schjelderup who’s cross turned shot and looped over Pickford off the post to give the Norwegians an unlikely lead in the 36th minute. Just a couple of minutes later Norway found themselves 2 v 1 on the break with the ball at the feet of Sorloth who had Haaland on the left but the Atletico Madrid striker was caught in two minds and continued his horrific tournament by running straight into John Stones in the box to the disbelief of Haaland on the other side, as if things couldn’t get worse for Norway England equalised a few minutes later as Anthony Gordon played the ball inside to Bellingham who was running into the box and took a couple of brilliant touches before firing the ball low past Nyland to get England level just before half-time. Norway had the ball in the net 10 minutes into the second half but Heggem’s goal from a corner was ruled out for a push on Elliot Anderson by Haaland just before the corner was taken, both teams had chances in the second half with Norway hitting the crossbar along with England going close from Saka’s cut-back late on but we were bound for extra-time in Miami. An extra-time that saw Bellingham grab his second of the day after Nyland spilled Morgan Rogers long-range shot with the Real Madrid man following in to win the game for England, there’s some people looking very silly for the pre-tournament predictions around Jude Bellingham.
Yet another show of character from this England team. They might not be blowing teams away like France but you can’t help but admire this England’s team refusal to get beat in this tournament, after Schjelderup’s opener they could have just waited to half-time to reset but they went right back it with Bellingham scoring a brilliant goal in what’s fast becoming a legacy tournament from the Real Madrid man. They lost control in the second half after Rice had to come off at half-time and definitely got lucky with Norway’s disallowed goal along with the crossbar hit but that’s the type of luck you need in quarter-finals to get through, they started strong in extra-time and again got that stroke of luck with Nyland spilling Rogers shot but Bellingham followed the shot in just like any top striker or midfielder and got his reward with his second of the day. Performances wise there were a few that would worry Tuchel like Madueke, Rice and Kane who you would think would have to improve if they were make the final but with the options off the bench they can always make changes if players aren’t performing, you have to give credit to England defensively as well who kept Haaland quiet for 105 minutes before he was substituted ending his 14 game scoring streak for Norway. Onto the semi-finals on Wednesday for England.
What could have been for Norway? I can’t help but think about Sorloth’s 2 v 1 just after Norway opened the scoring and think if he had passed they would have been in the semi-finals, he’s been absolutely awful all tournament and yet kept getting picked by the Norway manager so maybe this is what they deserved. I thought Norway were excellent in the second half with Odegaard putting in his best performance of the tournament so far controlling that midfield by himself which allowed the Norwegians to get back into the game and create some brilliant chances, I think they were unlucky with the disallowed goal as Anderson definitely sells the push with Haaland but they reset again and again were unlucky to hit the bar from a similar situation. The blame will fall to Nyland similar to Lammens in the Belgium game who you have to feel for after putting in such a good performance against Brazil in the last round, England’s bench played a huge part in extra-time that Norway just couldn’t match and they ran out of steam pretty early in the extra thirty minutes. Overall it’s been an absolutely brilliant tournament for Norway and I look forward to seeing them row into tournaments over the next few years.
A legacy tournament for Jude Bellingham. Before the tournament when I did my group predictions I put Jude Bellingham as my player to watch for England with ‘point to prove’ in brackets after it, not because I think Bellingham needed to prove just how important he is to this England team but to prove to the English press that he was the second name on the team sheet after Harry Kane. There was so many people pre-tournament that were saying that Morgan Rogers should be starting ahead of Bellingham and I’d love to hear from those people now after Bellingham yet again carries England through a knockout round, he’s now scored six goals at this tournament along with becoming the first player since Maradona to score in back-to-back knockout games at the World Cup. He’s also become the first English midfielder to score 5+ goals at the World Cup which shows just how staggering this tournament has been for Bellingham so far with two matches left to play, he’s already become England’s best midfielder since Bobby Charlton in my opinion as none of the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes etc showed up at this level for their country and he’s only 23. The question now is where does he rank if England win the whole thing? There might be a few spooky conversations.
Who will England play in the semi-final? Up next for England will be either Argentina or Switzerland who play each other later on to decide England’s opponent on Wednesday, I have to admit I really want to see Argentina vs England in the semi-final as the history between those two sides runs deep in World Cup’s. Whether it’s Maradona in 86, Beckham’s red card in 98 or Michael Owen’s solo goal in 02 there’s always been drama between these two countries and I’m sure a semi-final would be no different. If it’s Switzerland then it would be a rematch of the Euro 2024 quarter-final where England came out on top in penalties so you’d imagine it would be another tight game based on the way they’ve played so far at this World Cup, no matter who it is England will be keen to go one further than in 2018 by making their first World Cup final since 1966. Looking forward to the game later tonight which I’m sure will probably be a cracker based on Argentina’s games so far at this World Cup.