Tuchel says FIFA chip showed no contact with Spidercam in Norway win

FIFA said its ball sensors showed no contact with the Spidercam cable after England’s 2-1 extra-time win over Norway, closing down the most disputed moment of a quarter-final that had already turned on Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time equalizer. Thomas Tuchel later said the technology backed up what the video team had seen, while also admitting England were fortunate in parts of the match.

The flashpoint came in Miami Stadium on July 11, 2026, after a clearance from Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland appeared to clip the overhead camera wire before Bellingham struck in the added minutes of the first half. FIFA said its VAR team did not believe the ball struck the cable and said there was no evidence of contact. It added that the internal sensors in the ball did not register any impact.

That mattered because the laws of the game are clear: if the ball touches an outside agent or external object on the field, play must stop and restart with a dropped ball. Norway argued that the move should have been halted, and the issue quickly became a test of how much faith players and coaches can place in the combination of video review and ball-tracking data at the World Cup.

Ståle Solbakken, Norway’s coach, said he was convinced the ball had hit the camera cable above the pitch. His anger reflected the sense of grievance around a moment that helped shape England’s path to the semifinal. The match ended 2-1 after extra time, sending England through and ending Norway’s run at the first World Cup quarter-final in the country’s history.

Tuchel did not try to dress up the performance as flawless. He said England had fortune in some moments, a reminder that even when technology can settle a disputed touch, it cannot fix the larger problems on the pitch. The ball-chip evidence may have resolved the Spidercam debate, but it did nothing to erase England’s uneven stretches, or the tension that built when one borderline clearance briefly put the match, and the officials, under a harsher spotlight.