VAR overturns Norway goal, keeps England level in World Cup quarterfinal

Norway thought it had broken through in the 55th minute, only to watch the moment unwind under the glare of VAR at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Torbjørn Heggem forced the ball over the line after a corner from Martin Ødegaard, a sequence that included Erling Haaland’s aerial challenge, a rebound involving Patrick Berg and a save by Jordan Pickford, but the goal did not stand.

Clément Turpin, the French referee, was sent to the monitor after the video review flagged a possible foul before the corner was taken. The key question was whether Haaland had shoved Elliot Anderson to the ground before the ball was in play. Turpin ruled that he had, overturned the goal and ordered the corner to be retaken, leaving the score at 1-1 in the quarterfinal against England.

The decision fit a clarification approved by IFAB on May 31, 2026 for use at the World Cup. Under that adjustment, VAR can intervene when the attacking team commits a clear foul before the ball is in play on a corner or free kick, if the infraction has a direct impact on a goal, a penalty or a disciplinary sanction. In this case, the review centered on a pre-corner push rather than the scramble that ended with Heggem’s finish.

For Norway, the reversal also stripped away what would have been Heggem’s first goal for the national team. The scene was familiar to a modern tournament audience: a corner delivered by Ødegaard, bodies clustered in the box, Pickford extending the play with a save, then the delayed surge of celebration cut short by a review that replayed the action in reverse. What might have been a brief release became another long pause, with England restored to level terms and Norway left to restart from the same dead-ball position.