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England mounted a dramatic comeback as Jude Bellingham scored twice to lead the Three Lions to a 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway in the third quarterfinal of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on Saturday.
Bellingham’s match-winning performance helped England recover from a 1-0 deficit and secure its first World Cup semifinal appearance since 2018. The victory also came during the 60th anniversary year of England’s only World Cup triumph in 1966.
While England has long been regarded as one of international soccer’s traditional powers, its World Cup semifinal appearances have been relatively rare. The team has now reached the semifinals for the fourth time. England won the title in 1966 after defeating Portugal 2-1 in the semifinals, lost to Germany on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 1990, and fell to Croatia 2-1 in extra time in 2018.
Bellingham’s two goals, which increased his tournament tally to six, proved decisive against an inspired Norwegian side led by Erling Haaland.
The Real Madrid midfielder canceled out Andreas Schjelderup’s first-half opener before scoring the winner in extra time to send Thomas Tuchel’s side into the last four.
After a cautious opening at Miami Stadium, Norway gradually took control. Haaland tested Jordan Pickford with a header before Schjelderup gave Norway the lead in the 36th minute, sweeping a cross-shot inside the far post.
England responded in first-half stoppage time when Bellingham surged forward and calmly finished to level the score.
Harry Kane appeared to have put England ahead moments later, but the goal was ruled out for offside. Norway thought it had regained the lead just before the hour mark through Torbjorn Heggem, but VAR disallowed the goal after determining Haaland had pushed Elliot Anderson during the corner sequence.
England survived another scare when Kristoffer Ajer’s header struck the crossbar. At the other end, Djed Spence nearly capitalized on a hurried clearance by goalkeeper Orjan Nyland as the tightly contested match remained deadlocked and moved into extra time.
Bellingham ultimately delivered the decisive moment. He reacted quickest after Nyland spilled a powerful shot from substitute Morgan Rogers, converting from close range to complete his brace and end Norway’s memorable World Cup campaign.
