MIAMI GARDENS, Florida — Time for Norway to row—or maybe just sail—home.
England’s Three Lions are still alive in the World Cup after outlasting Erling Haaland and Norway on a sticky night in South Florida.
England beat Norway 2–1 in extra time to end the Scandinavian country’s dream run through the tournament, its furthest in men’s World Cup history. Now England—which hasn’t won the World Cup since 1966—has a date with the winner of Switzerland–Argentina in the semifinal.
The weather was a major factor, with the 90-degree temperature and heavy humidity barely dropping throughout the game.
It’s the end of the tournament for star striker Haaland, who became a celebrity in the United States during the tournament thanks to a combination of his prolific goal scoring, goofy social media presence, and embrace of U.S. culture and global fans. He has added 20 million Instagram followers during the tournament and now has 61 million.
England came into the quarterfinal match having beaten Mexico in a high-intensity match in Estadio Azteca. Norway defeated Brazil in New Jersey.
With over two hours until the match, England supporters had already plastered the section behind the England goal with flags, and by 90 minutes before kickoff, the front bannister of the upper concourse was also completely covered. The stadium’s giant swaths of bright teal—seats painted for the Miami Dolphins—slowly morphed into sections of red and white, the colors of both teams.
The match began with a moment of silence for Bafana Bafana’s Jayden Adams, a 25-year-old midfielder who made his World Cup debut earlier in the tournament and was found dead on Saturday.
Andreas Schjelderup rocketed the ball to the back of the net in the 36th minute, then pulled out Jude Bellingham’s “Are You Not Entertained?” celebration. Bellingham, apparently not entertained, fired the equalizer in stoppage time to level the score before half.
Fox’s studio pointed out at halftime that the Norwegian goal kick just before Bellingham’s goal appeared to hit a camera cable, which Fox rules expert Mark Clattenburg said should’ve been picked up by VAR and called a drop ball. But the officials didn’t call it or heed Norway’s complaints, and the goal stood.
FIFA said its sensor inside the ball didn’t register any change from potentially hitting a cable.
In the second half, VAR called back a Norway goal after determining a foul by Haaland.
French referee Jérôme Brisard was the video assistant referee for the match, a position he also held for the Argentina–Egypt game where VAR played a major rule.
Neither side scored in the second half. At the start of extra time, Bellingham scored once again. Haaland, who didn’t have many great chances in the match, was subbed off in the break between the two extra time periods.
The England players celebrated after the match by linking arms and singing “Wonderwall” with their supporters.
Norway ends its run with $20 million in prize money for reaching the quarterfinal. England will take home between $28 million and $51 million based on which of the final four spots it occupies.
England will now return to Atlanta for Wednesday’s semifinal. The Three Lions will try to advance under German head coach Thomas Tuchel in his campaign to become the first coach to win the World Cup for a country he wasn’t born in.
Messi and his defending champion side play the Swiss later Saturday night in Kansas City. The other semifinal between France and Spain will be Tuesday in Dallas.
Argentina is heavily favored to beat Switzerland, an outcome which would mean the top four teams in FIFA’s world rankings were last ones standing in the World Cup. Ultimately, soccer’s superpowers survived the new 48-team format.
Miami is one of several U.S. host cities where the stadium is not centrally located and the region does not have accessible public transit for fans to get to matches. One England fan from Delray Beach told FOS they took a rideshare to the commuter train, called the Tri-Rail, then hopped on one of the host committee’s free shuttle buses. A local Norwegian fan said they spent nearly two hours driving from Fort Lauderdale, which they said normally takes about 20 minutes.
Others had less to say about their journey. Anthony, a local fan who loves Jude Bellingham, told FOS: “Traffic was good. The vibes were good. The people are awesome. I’m meeting people from all around the world. It is beautiful.”
Norway’s legions of fans who rowed their way across the United States are now headed home. Miami hosts one more World Cup game, the third-place match on July 18.
