Read 4 minutesUpdated: 12 July 2026 06:18 AM IST
England’s 2–1 win over Norway at the FIFA World Cup was marred by controversy after Fox Sports, the American broadcaster of the World Cup, raised suspicions that FIFA had tampered with Sky Cam’s wires during England’s draw. Norway was leading 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup Jude Bellingham scored the equalizer in the second minute of added time in the first half at Miami.
Fox Sports posted a clip of the sequence leading up to the goal, where it claims that when Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland took the goal-kick, the ball hit the thin wire of the FIFA Sky Cam, which was suspended over the stadium for an aerial overview of the game. The ball then fell to an England player and a few passes later Bellingham equalized for England.
Erling Haaland, Norway’s top scorer at the FIFA World Cup 2026, was one of the players seen pointing to the sky after scoring with Nyland. Norway coach Stel Solbacken was also seen sparring with the referee.
On their broadcast, Fox World Cup host Rebecca Lowe said: “The ball is touched by a cable attached to a cable camera above the stadium. It comes back to England very quickly. After two passes, it goes to Jude Bellingham and into the back of the net. Now, after that, Stel Solbakken, the manager of Norway, is not happy with the goal. He is touching the cable of that cable camera and saying, Erling Haaland is not happy either.
Lowe added: “We spoke to our rules expert Mark Clattenburg and he said if the ball touches any outside object the whistle should go and it should be a dropped ball.”
According to the rules, the game must restart when the ball contacts the star as an outside object.
FIFA tried to quell the controversy through a clip posted on its social media handle.
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“Prior to England’s goal against Norway in the 45+2 minute, the sensor in the connected ball did not show a peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ while in the air, and therefore there was no evidence that the ball’s motion was altered by the ball touching the overhead wire,” FIFA wrote with the clip.
Prior to England’s goal against Norway in the 45+2 minute, the sensor in the connected ball did not show a peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ while in the air, and so there was no evidence that the ball had changed its movement by touching the overhead wire. pic.twitter.com/gYf9ukfveT
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) 11 July 2026
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Andreas Schjelderup scored for Norway in the 36th minute to give them the lead, which was canceled out by Bellingham’s controversial goal in the 45+2 minute.
After 90 minutes the game went into extra time with both teams tied 1-1. Bellingham scored in the first period of extra time to give England the win.
Both teams were denied a goal in this match. Harry Kane’s goal with the last kick of the first half was ruled offside while Torbjörn Hagem’s goal in the 56th minute was disallowed after a VAR review after Erling Haaland fouled Elliott Andersen leading the way.
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England also overturned the penalty kick decision due to VAR.
England now await the winner between Argentina and Switzerland.