Bellingham sends England to World Cup semifinals with extra-time winner

Jude Bellingham settled England’s quarterfinal with a third-minute goal in extra time, finishing a 2-1 comeback over Norway in Miami Gardens, Florida. The Real Madrid midfielder scored twice as Thomas Tuchel’s side reached the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 2018, ending Norway’s first run to a World Cup quarterfinal.

Bellingham was more than the scorer. He kept finding the spaces that Norway struggled to protect, arriving between lines, turning quickly, and carrying the ball with the directness that has made him England’s most reliable attacking outlet in this tournament. His first touch gave him room to attack defenders, and his movement kept pulling Norway’s shape apart long before the decisive finish in the third minute of the extra period.

Norway had taken the lead first, then watched England answer in a match that never lost its tension. A Norway goal was later wiped out after a VAR review, a decision that kept the quarterfinal level and left the result hanging until Bellingham finished it. The swing in momentum made England’s comeback feel precarious until Bellingham delivered again.

The game also briefly turned on a technology dispute. FIFA defended the validity of Bellingham’s first goal after concerns that a spider cam might have interfered with the play, and the governing body said the ball had not been invalidated. That ruling left the goal standing, and Bellingham’s brace stood at the center of a night that reinforced his grip on England’s attack.

England now move into the last four with Bellingham carrying the authority of a player who has changed matches with both movement and end product. In Miami Gardens, he did not just finish the quarterfinal. He controlled it.