Thomas Tuchel’s message was that it was time for England to thrive at the business end of the World Cup; the most exciting part. His players had to release the handbrake and go for it. They must not have any regrets against a Norway team that most of England expected them to beat. English arrogance? Or cold, hard realism?
Happily for Tuchel, he had a player in Jude Bellingham who took him at his word. Every one of them. Bellingham had shone previously at this tournament but he moved to another level here when it mattered the most.
England were in danger of being blown off course towards the end of a slow-burn first half as Norway led through Andreas Schjelderup’s cross-cum-shot which had a heavier emphasis on the former. It found a way home. Enter Bellingham to score a brilliant equaliser. And Norway were much the better team in the second half of regulation time. England gasped. Their display was not good enough. Was this the end of the road for them?
Bellingham ensured that it was not as he capitalised on another momentum shift to put England in front at the start of extra time. It was a poacher’s finish, never in doubt from the moment that the Norway goalkeeper, Ørjan Håskjold Nyland, spilled a shot from the England substitute Morgan Rogers. It was a horrible moment for Nyland and it moved Bellingham on to six goals; in contention for the Golden Boot. He is absolutely in the frame for the player of the tournament. More important, he helped to drive England into the semi-finals.
It was some distance from being the cohesive team performance that Tuchel had hoped for. But maybe, as he has long suspected, this really is the World Cup of moments for his team. Bellingham has certainly provided them.
It was Norway’s first World Cup quarter-final and they played a full part in a gripping tie. They refused to accept that defeat was their destiny and they had flickers after Bellingham’s second goal, two of their substitutes going close. Antonio Nusa saw a shot blocked by Marc Guéhi. Oscar Bobb lifted high when well placed.
England nullified the threat of Erling Haaland, who was withdrawn after the first period of extra time, and when it was finally over, there could be a fresh take on a classic old line. Edvard Munch, Henrik Ibsen, Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Your boys did not take a hell of a beating. England nevertheless found a way.
It was an occasion when the heat burned. The temperature at kick-off time showed 33C and there was 65% humidity. Neither number changed appreciably. The sweat poured off the supporters who were simply sitting in their seats. It was a test of the players’ endurance and for England, the first such one of the tournament. Previously, they had played in air-cooled domes or much milder conditions. England prepared for it, especially during their hot-weather training camp in Florida. It still felt like a step into the unknown.
Tuchel’s team probed without any success for much of the first half against a deep-set Norway. Their tempo was low, partly because of the conditions. But the entire feel of the game changed after the 33rd minute when John Stones, who was recalled in central defence, dwelled and played a loose back-pass towards Jordan Pickford, with Haaland in attendance. Pickford cleaned it up. It was a let-off for England.
Norway stirred as an attacking entity. Haaland rose to send a header straight at Pickford and they were in front when Patrick Berg pressed high to rob Harry Kane. The England captain wanted a foul but it was not there. Norway worked it left for Schjelderup and that was when fate smiled on him and them. It looked like a cross from the left-winger towards Haaland. Instead, the ball flew into the far, top corner. Pickford ought to have done better.
It was the prompt for a traumatic period for England. Alexander Sørloth lashed high, Martin Ødegaard worked Pickford after a loose pass out from the England goalkeeper and there was the moment when Norway broke up the inside right through Sørloth. He had Haaland in the middle and yet Stones defended the situation superbly.
Norway were on the front foot only for Bellingham to check their momentum. It was just an explosive dart from him on to a square pass inside from Anthony Gordon; so smooth, too. The England talisman sliced into a seam of space to the left of the Norway goal and simply kept on going, away from and around Torbjørn Heggem. The low finish back across goal was too hot for Nyland.
In the buildup, there was a question about whether the ball had touched an overhead cable before Elliot Anderson fed Gordon. Fifa later released a statement to say that it had not. All very bizarre – and in keeping with a wild game.
England might even have led after the first 45 minutes when Bellingham played in Kane, the Norway defence standing off. They were worried about Bellingham and who could blame them? Kane finished with a lovely dink but he was offside.
Tuchel twisted hard for the second half. Was it too much? It was Bukayo Saka on for the ineffective Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze for Declan Rice, who had battled an illness before the game. Eze went into the No 10 role. Bellingham sat alongside Anderson, who was outstanding, but with a licence to push high.
Norway shook their heads clear and it felt as though every fan in attendance ought to have been advised to fasten their seatbelts. Pickford had erratic moments when he did not seem to fully comprehend the whereabouts of his posts and bar. He pushed wide from a Haaland header that looked to be off target.
Norway had the ball in the net from a corner shortly afterwards when Pickford could only parry a Berg shot and Heggem swept home. But Haaland had pushed Anderson and the goal was chalked off after a video assistant review.
Tuchel’s midfield restructure left his team open. Bellingham did not work as a No 8 and Norway took control. It was no surprise to see Tuchel act during the second hydration break. He introduced Reece James at the base of the midfield, withdrew Gordon and moved Eze to the left. Bellingham went back to the No 10 position. Gordon was essentially sacrificed and England lost a pacy outlet.
Norway were the likelier scorers in the second half of normal time and England enjoyed another let-off in the 76th minute on the second phase of a corner. It was a header from Kristoffer Ajer and only the crossbar denied him. England just about scrambled clear.
The tension was as heavy as the air. Whether a player was old or new to this stage, there was the absolute realisation of the stakes; the knowledge that millions and millions of eyes were on them. That any error would be placed under the most unforgiving of microscopes.
Nyland almost made one in stoppage time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes when he took too long over a clearance and saw Djed Spence, on as an England substitute at left-back, charge it down. The ball flew wide. By now, Tuchel had Rogers on in midfield, Ezri Konsa off and James back to right-back. It was furious tactical plate-spinning. Saka had a few flickers and Bellingham directed a header wide but there was an inevitability about extra time.
The pendulum swung again. England started the additional period on the front foot. Saka crossed for Kane and he watched Nyland claw away his header from the far corner. The goalkeeper’s resilience would be broken and what an error it was by him when he spilled Rogers’ shot from outside the area. Bellingham did the rest and England might have made the closing stages more comfortable.
Spence appeared to have won a penalty after Bobb wrapped his leg around him in the area only for the referee, Clément Turpin, to reverse his original decision after a VAR review. It was a head-scratcher. Saka was denied by Nyland while the goalkeeper made a double save to deny Spence and Saka. England had done enough.
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