England booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals after Jude Bellingham scored twice in a hard-fought 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway, but manager Thomas Tuchel admitted his side were fortunate to progress.
The Three Lions came from behind at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, with Bellingham once again delivering in a crucial knockout match after also scoring twice in the previous round against Mexico.
Despite reaching the last four, Tuchel expressed frustration with his team’s display, saying England made the match unnecessarily difficult.
‘The result is fantastic. The last four is amazing, but I’m not happy with the performance,’ he said.
‘The commitment is there, but it made life very, very difficult for us in the way we played. We were sloppy, too cautious and not fast enough. We were lucky today.’
England will face either Argentina or Switzerland in Wednesday’s semi-final, with a place in their first World Cup final in 60 years at stake.
Bellingham inspires another comeback
Norway stunned England by taking the lead through Andreas Schjelderup in what was the country’s first-ever World Cup quarter-final appearance.
Bellingham restored parity just before half-time after collecting Anthony Gordon’s pass, surging into the penalty area and finishing confidently with his left foot.
England thought they had gone ahead before the break when Harry Kane found the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Tuchel introduced Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze at half-time, but England continued to struggle as Norway pushed for a winner.
The Norwegians had another goal disallowed after a VAR review ruled that Erling Haaland had committed a foul before the corner that led to Torbjorn Heggem’s finish.
Kristoffer Ajer then struck the crossbar as Norway came close again before the match entered extra time.
Extra-time mistake proves costly
The physically demanding conditions, with temperatures above 30°C and high humidity, took their toll on both teams.
England finally found the breakthrough when Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland failed to hold Morgan Rogers’ long-range effort, allowing Bellingham to react quickest and score his sixth goal of the tournament.
England were later awarded a penalty, but VAR overturned the decision after determining Djed Spence had initiated the contact inside the penalty area.
Norway were unable to mount a late response, while Haaland’s run of scoring in 14 consecutive competitive matches for his country came to an end after he was substituted during extra time.
Having also come from behind to defeat Mexico in the previous round, England have now recovered from conceding first twice during the knockout stage.
Tuchel, however, insisted England must raise their level if they are to take the next step.
‘We need to get better. Now it’s celebration, and now it’s taking it all in. We have three days,’ he said.
