England are into the World Cup semi-finals, and once more they have Jude Bellingham to thank. Norway were beaten 2-1 after extra time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Saturday, a quarter-final settled by the finest of margins and by the one player on the pitch who kept finding them.
Bellingham drags England level, then wins it
For long stretches it looked like being Norway's night. Andreas Schjelderup put them ahead in the 36th minute, and until first-half stoppage time England had no answer. Then, on 45+2, Bellingham struck. It was the last act before the interval, and it changed the shape of everything that came after. One apiece, and a match reset.
The equaliser steadied England without breaking Norway, who emerged for the second half unbothered and matched their opponents through the hour that followed. Ninety minutes came and went with the tie still level. Extra time it was.
England did not hang about. Three minutes into the added half-hour, in the 93rd, Bellingham was there again. Morgan Rogers got a shot away, the goalkeeper could not hold it, and the ball spilled loose. Bellingham read the rebound quickest, reacting before any Norway defender, and buried it. 2-1, and this time it held.
Norway had the best part of half an hour to find a way back and could not manage it. Kristoffer Ajer was booked in the 117th minute as the frustration told, and England, having ridden their luck in spells, saw the thing out. Referee Clement Turpin blew for time with the last eight reduced, for England at least, to the last four.
Fine margins, not domination
The scoreline flatters neither side. Expected goals put it at 0.77 to Norway and 0.96 to England, the sort of split that reads like a coin toss rather than a comfortable win. Possession went 52 to 48 England's way. Both teams had 14 shots.
Where England edged it was in the aim and the finishing. Eight efforts on target to Norway's four. Two big chances to one. England kept the ball a fraction better too, 567 accurate passes to 492, 91 per cent to 85, and shaded the physical exchanges, 54 duels won to 47. Norway's keeper made six saves to England's three, a fair measure of how much work the Norwegians had to do simply to stay in it.
Erling Haaland could not conjure the moment Norway needed. Their run into the last eight, one of the stories of the tournament, ends here, undone by the one man they could not keep quiet. Norway matched England for long spells and had little to show for it. That is often what the better side makes you feel: beaten by the result if not always by the run of play.
Bellingham's tournament
The double lifts Bellingham's World Cup another notch. He had already scored in the round-of-16 win over Mexico, and he has now become the player England lean on when a match refuses to break. Two goals here, a poacher's rebound and a moment of composure at the death of the first half, and a semi-final place as the reward. England did not play especially well and won anyway, which is the sort of habit deep runs are built on.
What comes next
England now wait on Argentina and Switzerland, whose winner they will meet in the semi-final. Norway go home, unlucky perhaps on the balance of chances, beaten by a side that found a way when the game asked the question. For England, the last four; for Bellingham, another night when the moment fell to him and he took it.
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