England’s lone regulation goal in its eventual 2-1 extra-time defeat of Norway in a World Cup quarter-final on Saturday in Florida was not without controversy.Norway argued — and video replay appeared to show — that a goal kick from their goalkeeper Orjan Nyland bounced off a wire supporting an in-stadium camera and redirected to an England player, setting up the sequence which ended with Jude Bellingham’s tying goal in the second minute of first-half stoppage time.“That was unlucky for us,” Norway manager Stale Solbakken said of that sequence after the match. “The ball fell straight down from the sky, so it changed its direction. It became a misunderstanding among our players and it was a bad moment for us, but we can’t do anything about that.”
Norway head coach Stale Solbakken reacts during the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Norway and England in Florida on Saturday.
According to FIFA’s rule, a ball bouncing off a wire would lead to a stoppage in play and a drop ball to decide possession. The association issued a statement shooting down this possibility.“Before England’s goal in minute 45+2 against Norway, the sensor in the Connected Ball showed no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball,” a FIFA statement said.
