Bellingham spidercam controversy overshadows England’s win over Norway

FIFA has denied that the ball clipped the spidercam wire before Jude Bellingham's equaliser in Norway vs England. The goal came in minute 45+2, just before half-time, and the connected ball sensor posted no peak in the "heartbeat of the ball" before the strike. Norway were furious anyway, and the argument has now swallowed the match.

FIFA's sensor-based denial

The official line is blunt enough. FIFA said the sensor in the connected ball showed no evidence that it touched the overhead wire before England scored, and Thomas Tuchel pointed to the same technology when he argued it should be able to settle the issue. "There is a chip in the ball who can tell you if a hair touches it as we know since the Croatia v Portugal game, so they should be able to tell you if it [a touch] happened [here]," he said.

Norway saw it very differently. Stale Solbakken said, "The ball fell straight down, right in front of the bench, so it did touch it." Sander Berge added, "It's ridiculous, this one with the wire," while Norway players immediately surrounded referee Clement Turpin after the goal and Solbakken spoke to him at half-time.

Why Norway feel hard done by

The controversy hangs over a match Norway had already pushed deep into extra time. Jude Bellingham scored both of England's goals in the 2-1 extra-time win, and his 8.5 rating made him England's highest-rated player. Andreas Schjelderup still rated 8.2 for Norway, and Ørjan Nyland made 6 saves, so the margins were thin before the wire debate took over.

Thomas Tuchel was also clear that his side were not at their sharpest. "I'm not saying we are lucky to win, but we are lucky in decisive moments," he said. Declan Rice spent most of the three days before the quarter-final in bed with sickness, then lasted 45 minutes before being replaced at half-time by Arsenal teammate Eberechi Eze.

The result stands as Norway 1, England 2 after extra time, but the bigger story now is whether the connected-ball evidence is enough to silence the complaint. FIFA says there was no peak in the "heartbeat of the ball" before Bellingham scored, and Norway are still saying the opposite.