England were fortunate not to find themselves 2-1 down against Norway in their World Cup quarter-final at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Torbjorn Heggem prodded home on 55 minutes, seemingly putting the Scandinavians ahead for a second time, but the goal was quickly chalked off after a VAR review.
VAR Intervention and Foul Call
The video assistant referee instructed referee Clement Turpin to review the goal on the monitor, ruling that Erling Haaland had pushed Elliot Anderson before Martin Odegaard delivered the corner. The England players had complained to Turpin, who after review disallowed the goal. Turpin announced: "After review, No9 of Norway pushed deliberately the defender before the ball was in play. Final decision, corner be retaken."
Analyst Commentary
On ITV, referee analyst Christina Unkel said before the VAR decision: "They are checking Haaland's full extension of that push. The precaution of VAR is whether or not that would have prevented [Anderson] from having meaningful impact and to defend that ball. I would be surprised if there was not a recommendation to overturn this goal."
Controversy and New Rule
There was further controversy as Norway were awarded a corner instead of England receiving a free kick for the push. The disallowed goal also saw FIFA's new rule applied, where the strike was chalked off due to the foul committed before the corner was taken. This was the second contentious decision by Turpin in the match, as Harry Kane was not awarded a foul in the lead-up to Norway's opener, scored by Andreas Schjelderup on 35 minutes.
