With the help of two goals from Jude Bellingham, England defeated Norway 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 and reached the semi-finals. Bellingham scored the winning goal in extra time. Coach Thomas Tukel described him as a world class player.
Tukel calls Bellingham ‘world class’
Florida [अमेरिका]July 12 (ANI): England head coach Thomas Tuchel has praised Jude Bellingham’s match-winning performance. Bellingham played a key role in helping the Three Lions reach the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026, where England won 2–1 in extra time over Norway. Bellingham scored both of England’s goals, including the equalizer in first-half stoppage time and the winning goal in extra time. He received the ‘Player of the Match’ award for this performance, as England made a comeback and won.
Praising the Real Madrid star after the match, Tukel described Bellingham as a world class player. “That’s enough, he does it every game. World class,” Tuchel told ITV as quoted by Sky Sports. Despite England reaching the last four, Tuchel insisted his team needed to improve ahead of the semi-finals. “We will get better, we need to get better. Now is the time to celebrate. Now is the time to enjoy this win. We will need everything to perform better,” Tuchel told ITV.
England wins in a thrilling match
Talking about the match, Bellingham scored two goals to help England bounce back from one goal down and defeat Norway in extra time to book a place in the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The Real Madrid midfielder scored the equalizer late in the first half and then scored the winner in extra time to complete a 2-1 comeback win for Thomas Tuchel’s side.
Norway started better and took the lead in the 36th minute with a goal from Andreas Shelderup. Earlier, Erling Haaland tested England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with a header, but Shelderup showed excellent finishing. England responded just before the break when Bellingham stepped forward and calmly headed the ball into the net for the equaliser. A few moments later, Harry Kane gave England the lead, but his goal was declared offside.
Norway thought they had taken the lead back just before the hour mark when Torbjorn Heggem scored, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review. The review found that Haaland had fouled Elliot Anderson during the build-up to the goal. Norway continued to attack, and Kristoffer Ajer hit a shot off the crossbar. At the same time, after the mistake of goalkeeper Orjan Neeland, England’s Dead Spence also came close to scoring the goal.
When neither team could score the winning goal in the stipulated time, the match went to extra time. Here Bellingham made a difference. He responded quickly after a powerful shot from substitute Morgan Rogers was blocked by goalkeeper Kneeland and scored from close range to send England into the last four.
Semifinals and new records
Now England will face either defending champions Argentina or Switzerland in the semi-finals to be held at the Atlanta Stadium on July 15. Bellingham was named ‘Player of the Match’. He and captain Harry Kane have now scored six goals each in the 2026 World Cup. This is the first time that two England players have scored at least five goals in the same edition of the tournament. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also achieved a major feat. He played in his 18th FIFA World Cup match and became England’s most capped goalkeeper in World Cup history, breaking Peter Shilton’s previous record of 17 matches.
Norway’s memorable journey ends
For Norway, the defeat ended a memorable campaign in which they made the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup for the first time. Their previous best performances were reaching the round of 16 in 1938 and 1998, and they also participated in the group stage at the 1994 World Cup. (ANI)
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