Today’s World Cup quarter-final between Norway and England was no festive spectacle. England can celebrate nonetheless, after two goals from Bellingham sent the Three Lions into the semi-finals.

Our superstar Erling Braut Haaland was largely invisible. Much of the blame must be borne by our midfield, which was rather weak.

Norway’s national team coach Ståle Solbakken was disappointed and broke down in tears during his interview with TV 2 after the match. Solbakken was also highly dissatisfied with the French referee Clément Turpin, a dissatisfaction that was also clearly evident in Document’s LIVE commentary on the match.

– This is elite sport at its very worst or best, depending on which side you are on. Today, the margins were not in our favour and several things went against us, but that is how it is. I cannot praise the boys enough, Solbakken said, before breaking down in tears. (NTB-Sjur Natvig)

The defence put in a heroic effort, but our goalkeeper Nyland, who had enjoyed an excellent World Cup thus far, made several serious errors, one of which contributed to one of Bellingham’s goals.

Miami Gardens, Florida, USA, 11 July 2026.
Ørjan Håskjold Nyland receives consolation after the quarter-final between Norway and England at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Miami Stadium.
Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB

In any event, the Norwegian national team deserves acclaim, for they did, after all, reach the quarter-finals of a FIFA World Cup. They were somewhat disappointing today, but have given us so much joy that this has already been forgiven.

England will probably face Argentina in the semi-final; that will be decided tonight when Messi & co face Switzerland. In that case, we may see yet another historic encounter, as in 1986, when Maradona scored with the ‘Hand of God’, and in 1998, when Beckham received a foolish red card and contributed to England’s defeat.

For the Norwegian team, the World Cup is over. But they can return home with pride.