England progress to semi-finals
England have advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup 2026, marking only their fourth appearance at this stage of the tournament. The team secured a 2-1 victory over Norway after extra time in the quarter-finals. Following this win, they are set to face Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday at 20:00 BST.
Captain Harry Kane expressed confidence that England possesses an untapped potential, stating, “we have another level we can reach.” He is the joint top goalscorer for England in the current tournament, alongside Jude Bellingham, with both players having scored six goals.
Manager’s assessment and player reactions
After the quarter-final match against Norway, coach Thomas Tuchel voiced his dissatisfaction with England’s performance. He described the team as “sloppy,” “not fast enough,” and making “a lot of technical mistakes,” suggesting they were fortunate to win. Kane acknowledged Tuchel’s frustrations, attributing them to the team’s inability to replicate their training form during the match.
Kane noted that while the team has shown glimpses of their capability, they have not yet achieved the full control they desire. He believes that reaching the semi-finals while still feeling there is room for improvement is a positive sign, especially with a match against “one of the best teams in the world” approaching.
In contrast to Kane’s agreement with Tuchel’s comments, Jude Bellingham offered a different perspective. Bellingham, who scored in England’s last two matches, highlighted the difficulty of playing against strong opposition like Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa, and Alexander Sorloth under challenging conditions. He praised his teammates for their efforts.
England has a history of reaching the semi-finals, having lost at this stage to West Germany in 1990 and to Croatia in 2018. The team also experienced defeats in recent European Championship finals, losing to Italy in 2021 and to Spain two years ago. Kane described the current period as an “extremely successful era” for the national team, emphasizing the desire to “get over the line” and secure a trophy, which he considers the “missing piece.”
Controversy in the quarter-final
The quarter-final match against Norway included a controversial incident involving Jude Bellingham’s equalising goal. Norway’s head coach, Ståle Solbakken, claimed that the ball struck an overhead camera cable before Bellingham scored. The incident occurred late in the first half when Norway’s goalkeeper, Ørjan Nyland, launched a goal kick that appeared to make contact with a suspended camera wire.
Nyland and Solbakken appealed to the referee, arguing that play should have been stopped. However, their protests were dismissed, and the goal stood. Television replays seemed to indicate contact between the ball and the cable. Despite this, FIFA maintained that there was “no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball.”
Solbakken explained that the referee was unaware of any contact and did not receive any communication about it. He stated, “Since Fifa says that there was no touch, I can’t do anything about it. But the ball fell down straight in front of the bench, so it did. Everyone saw what happened. I think it’s pretty clear that it did. it was a strange thing.”
Under the Laws of the Game, if officials determine that the ball has touched an outside object like an overhead cable, play should be stopped and restarted with a dropped ball. Since no contact was detected by the officials, play continued, allowing England to score. Solbakken expressed disappointment but chose not to dwell on the incident, praising his players for their performance throughout the tournament. He noted that the unexpected trajectory of the ball after the alleged contact created confusion among his players at a critical moment.
England ultimately secured the 2-1 victory after extra time, with Bellingham scoring to send the Three Lions into the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.
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Source: bbc.com
