‘It’s a scandal!’ Norwegian press reacts to England’s World Cup win over Norway | World | News
England took its place in the FIFA World Cup semi-finals by defeating Norway 2-1 after extra time in the sweltering heat of Miami. Norway went on to achieve one of the biggest wins in the country’s football history when Andreas Schjelderup took the lead in the 36th minute. Jude Bellingham equalized in first-half stoppage time before Torbjørn Heggem thought Norway had restored their advantage, but VAR ruled out the goal.
The match ended in extra time after Bellingham struck again in the 93rd minute to send England into the last four and end Norway’s remarkable World Cup run. But as of Sunday morning, most of the discussion in Norway was not about the result. Instead, the country’s biggest broadcasters and newspapers were asking whether two controversial moments had cost Norway a place in the last four.
NRK, Norway’s public broadcaster and the country’s equivalent of the BBC, led much of the coverage with its decision to disallow Heggem’s second-half goal after Erling Haaland was adjudged to have fouled Elliot Anderson in the penalty area.
NRK football expert Kristoffer Løkberg said: “Norway’s 2-1 disallowance of a goal is a scandal. This is incredibly bad refereeing. Elliot Anderson threw himself back without any provocation. This is closer to a simulation than Haaland’s foul.”
Football pundit Lars Tjærnås was equally critical, writing about X: “VAR is complete nonsense for football.”
Mr Løkberg was not the only television pundit disappointed. Simen Stamsø-Møller, an expert commentator on TV2, one of Norway’s largest commercial broadcasters, questioned why the goal was called off.
“Yes, there is a push, but it happens everywhere in the penalty area. There is a push here, there is a push there, everywhere. Because he threw himself. No, stop talking nonsense.”
He added: “There was pressure and you see it at every corner. It’s only given because the result is a goal.”
The debate did not end there. TV2 also gave prominent coverage to England’s equaliser, after Norway claimed the ball hit the overhead camera cable moments before Jude Bellingham scored.
Norway coach Ståle Solbakken said after the match: “That’s not the main story here and I don’t blame it, but when the ball fell in front of them the whole team reacted immediately. Ørjan [Nyland] He reacted immediately. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that he hit something, but unfortunately we’re going to have to live with this for the rest of our lives.”
Commenting on the incident, TV2 football expert Jesper Mathisen believed the rules of the game were clear.
He said: “The goal should have been disallowed as the referee should have stopped play after Nyland’s kick and restarted with the referee’s referee’s throw.”
FIFA later said it checked the data on the chip inside the official match ball and found no evidence of contact with the camera cable.
Norwegian newspaper Nettavisen, one of the country’s largest online news outlets, also spoke extensively about both events.
Mr Løkberg told the newspaper: “If that ball hits the camera or the cable it’s a scandal. It should have been a referee’s throw, not 1-1. I have no words. I’ve never witnessed anything like it before. If this proves decisive it will go down in history as one of the biggest World Cup scandals of all time.”
Fellow NRK pundit Carl-Erik Torp added: “If it turns out the ball hit the wire, for Norway it would be one of the biggest refereeing scandals of all time.”
Despite the anger over the two decisions, Mr Løkberg concluded by praising Norway’s performance against one of the tournament favourites.
He said: “It was incredibly intense. How dramatic and how heroic of the Norwegian team who were the better team for most of the game. Unfortunately the odds were against us in a narrow game. But down there is a Norwegian team that can be proud of the defeat.”
