Erling Haaland was controversially substituted during half-time of extra time as England defeated Norway 2-1 in the World Cup quarter-final in Miami. The Manchester City striker, who had scored seven goals in the tournament, was replaced by Jorgen Strand Larsen as Norway chased an equaliser.
Match Summary
Andreas Schjelderup put Norway ahead in the 36th minute with what appeared to be a miss-hit cross. Jude Bellingham equalised for England shortly before half-time, although Norway felt the goal should have been ruled out after the ball appeared to hit one of Spidercam's cables in the build-up.
Norway had a goal from Torbjorn Heggem disallowed in the second half after VAR caught Haaland pushing Elliot Anderson in the box. The match went to extra time, and Bellingham pounced on a mistake from Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland to put England ahead in the 93rd minute.
Substitution Controversy
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken defended his decision to substitute Haaland, saying: 'It was not a tough decision to take him out because he was finished, maybe I should have done it 10 minutes before. He obviously had a tremendous World Cup, we used his energy and power for game after game after game. I think that he also got a dead leg in the second half so that combined with fatigue.'
Haaland admitted he was 'completely done' after playing in 32°C heat in Miami. 'It's been the best six weeks I've had in maybe my entire life. It's completely surreal. It's hard to talk about it now, because I'm pretty down, but these 40-plus days have gone by so quickly. It's a memory for life,' Haaland said.
England's Path Forward
England held on to secure a 2-1 win and advance to the World Cup semi-final, where they will face either Argentina or Switzerland.
