Big reactions after the quarter-final drama between Norway and England – both camps are at full war. The fair thing now would be a rematch, but as VG writes: Football is not fair.
Norway is out of the World Cup. England advance to the semi-finals where they will face Argentina who have also benefited greatly from FIFA’s referees.
Read on Sporten: Switzerland rages against VAR scandal: “A disaster!”
But the Norwegians can go home with their heads held high – they were both an inch and a cable away from a sensational victory over the English. – We are both proud and super happy that we have a national team that actually reaches a quarter-final. It’s not a tragedy to lose to England, but I wish we could have lost “honestly”.
Left with a nasty feeling that artificial intelligence is used as a tool to flea us for as much money as possible and not to make football better. Everything is rigged and tweeked to give FIFA and the friends of FIFA as much money as possible.
The quarter-final between Norway and the English world stars was filled with drama, anger and at least two controversies that are still burning.
And now even the international press is asking: Was Norway cheated?
The Athletic asks the burning question
The renowned football journalism in The Athletic puts its finger on the wound: How could Bellingham’s equalizing goal stand?
The question arises because the ball in the build-up – from Ørjan Nyland’s kick from his own field – had such a powerful direction that it **hit the camera’s wire over the field**. The replays clearly show it. The ball flicks down. Changes trajectory. Landed right at the feet of Elliot Anderson.
And from there? Anderson starts the conversion, adds Gordon, who serves Bellingham on a silver platter. 1-1. 2-1 in the end.
FIFA rejects. They say it didn’t happen.
But the pictures don’t lie. And now the experts are raging.
“The World Cup is not fair” – Norwegian media strikes back
After the match, VG writes in a fiery comment that “the World Cup is not fair”.
They refer to both the cable incident and the free kick that took away Norway’s victory – and conclude:
“This doesn’t feel fair. But this is the World Cup. And the World Cup is not fair. The World Cup is just brutal. And it’s hardly a coincidence that England had the championship experience that turned the game in their favour.
The comment hits hard:
Norway could beat the whole world, they write. But instead, they were beaten by a wire and a VAR decision that no one understands.
Radiosporten: Bellingham’s goal should never have been approved
The free kick that provokes fury
But the controversy doesn’t stop at the cable.
Because when Torbjørn Heggem scored what would become Norway’s lead goal in the middle of the second half – a beautiful header after a corner – the whole of Norway cheered.
Then came VAR.
The goal was annulled. Erling Haaland had supposedly pushed his future clubmate Elliot Anderson to the ground beforehand.
And Haaland? He is furious.
“If it’s a free kick, I have to get a free kick in every single duel in almost every game,” said a dejected Haaland at the post-match press conference.
He has a point. The replays show an ordinary duel – not a clear offence. But VAR saw it differently.
And thus Norway’s chance to go ahead 2-1 was gone.
English media: “Lucky, but deserved?”
On the other side of the North Sea, the tone is different.
The Sun calls it “lucky” that England progressed, but stresses that Tuchel’s men were the best over 90 minutes.
The Guardian writes that “technology was on England’s side – for once”.
While the Daily Mail questions whether FIFA’s sensor system is even suitable for detecting such incidents. “If the ball hits a cable at a height of 20 meters, the sensor does not register anything. Then it’s not a proof – it’s a loophole.”
Norwegian players: “It was impossible not to see”
Several Norwegian players have spoken out afterwards.
“We saw it right away. The ball changes direction. I don’t understand how the referee could ignore it, says a disappointed Norwegian midfielder to TV 2.
“It’s not bitterness. These are facts. The ball hit the cable. That is a fact. The question is why no one intervened.
Goalkeeper Nyland himself, who kicked the ball, has also commented:
“I felt that something was wrong when I saw the ball suddenly drop. But you can’t stop the game yourself. You have to trust the system. Today, the system failed us.
The experts weigh in
Football expert and former referee Tom Henning Øvrebø is clear in his analysis:
“This is a human error, but also a system error. VAR could have looked at it. The referee could have stopped the game. But no one did anything. It is a betrayal of the fairness of football.
His English colleague, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg, is more subdued:
“I understand the frustration, but the regulations say that the ball is in play as long as the referee does not see anything abnormal. The question is whether the cable is part of the game’s “natural environment”. No one has taken a position on that.
Now Argentina awaits England
England will face Argentina in the World Cup semi-finals on Wednesday. A match that has already been labelled as a showdown between two arch-enemies – both on and off the pitch.
The game will be played at 21:00 in Atlanta.
But for Norway – and for all of us who cheered on our Nordic brothers – we are left with one unsolved riddle:
Why was the match not decided on the pitch, but by a cable and a VAR room?
Summary: Why Norway is raging
- The cable incident: The ball hit the camera wire. The pitch was changed. The goal should have been annulled.
- FIFA Weak Defense: The sensors in the ball only detect at pitch level. It is technically impossible for them to detect a cable at a height of 20 meters.
- The free kick on Haaland: VAR annulled Heggem’s goal for a duel that happens in every single game.
- Norwegian media: “The World Cup is not fair. It’s brutal.”
And the question that FIFA does not want to answer:
Was Norway cheated?
