England were one point behind Norway in the early stages of their World Cup quarter-final match, but Jude Bellingham came to their rescue moments later.
Jude Bellingham’s equalizer against Norway should not have happened (Image: Hannah Peters – FIFA, FIFA via Getty Images)
Jude Bellingham’s first-half equalizing goal against Norway at the World Cup could have been chalked away in North America because VAR had overlooked a potential violation due to a little-known FIFA rule. England fell behind midway through the first 45 minutes, when Andreas Schjelderup beat Jordan Pickford with a cross-like shot.
Harry Kane committed a foul in the build-up and some suggested that VAR should not have intervened and awarded the strike, but referee Clement Turpin did nothing and let the goal stand. Bellingham finally came to his country’s rescue as the first half drew to a close, showing incredible strength and sublime footwork to evade the Norwegian defense and score from close range.
However, the Norwegian team complained that the goal should have been ruled out according to FIFA tournament regulations. Orjan Nyland appeared to catch the camera cable with a goal kick shortly after the start of the game, but the ball was recovered by Elliott Anderson in the center of the park.
Anderson then sought out Anthony Gordon, who fired the ball to Bellingham in front of goal. However, FIFA regulations state that if the ball hits a camera cable during play, a dropped ball must be awarded, meaning Bellingham’s goal should not have been allowed.
Under this procedure, VAR would have intervened after Bellingham’s finish and informed Turpin of the appropriate course of action. However, that didn’t happen and the game ended at 1-1.
Mark Clattenburg shed some light on this rule during a live broadcast of the game on FOX. He told viewers: “VAR may intervene if the contact of the ball with the camera cable is part of the incident under review. The attacking phase of the play leading to the goal is part of the incident under review by VAR. This should have been subject to VAR.”
However, FIFA said the ball did not actually touch the cable, adding: “When we checked the data from the connected ball heart rate sensor, there was no peak on the graph,” meaning the goal was valid.
This follows another controversial VAR ruling that halted play during Argentina and Egypt’s Round of 16 encounter. Already at a 1-0 advantage thanks to Yasser Ibrahim’s early goal, Mostafa Zico scored what was one of the most spectacular finishes of the tournament.
Lisandro Martinez lost the ball deep in Egypt’s half and Haisem Hassan charged across the pitch, beating two defenders on his way. He then slipped the ball to Mohamed Salah, who threaded a perfectly weighted pass to Zico inside the Argentina box, calmly past Emi Martinez.
However, VAR intervened moments later and ruled that Martinez had committed a foul after losing possession, ultimately disallowing the goal that would have given Egypt a 2-1 lead. The verdict infuriated Alan Shearer, who detailed the incident in a recent episode of The Rest of Football.
“The reason why so many people are so angry is because just as I don’t think what happened with Salah in the penalty box was a penalty, just as I don’t think pulling his shirt in the penalty box was a penalty, the same logic applies to that free kick that was awarded,” he said.
Jude Bellingham scored five goals for England at the World Cup (Image: Getty)
“So if you’re going to give that away, there’s a big debate about whether you should score one of those…If you give it away as a foul, you’re actually going to step back 110 yards and say, ‘Sorry, that was a foul. We’re going to nullify one of the best goals of the tournament.’
“I think and I can say what I want here. I think this is complete nonsense. I really do. No wonder there are so many theories about ‘stink.'” The top four in the world rankings are England, France, Spain and Argentina.
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“If they win the group stage, it’s guaranteed that they won’t play until the semi-finals. There’s interference from the president’s phone call, and it’s Argentina’s fault in that game. You think, ‘No wonder.'” You can’t blame the people who come up with these theories, can you? ”
