England secured their place in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Norway after extra time, following a 1-1 draw at the end of normal time, in a quarter-final held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.
The England side ended Norway's adventure — the country's finest-ever World Cup campaign — with the Scandinavians proving a formidable opponent until the very last moments, as Haaland and his teammates bade farewell to a tournament in which they had been the talk of the world since it began.
Jude Bellingham was the hero of the evening, scoring both of England's goals to bring his tally to 6 in the tournament, keeping him in pursuit of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi in the race for the Golden Boot.
England dominated possession early on without creating genuine danger, before Norway gradually shed their caution and asserted their attacking superiority, exploiting a drop in the English tempo.
Nico O'Reilly squandered England's first clear chance in the 23rd minute, before a Harry Kane free kick struck the crossbar 6 minutes later.
Erling Haaland nearly capitalised on a John Stones error in the 33rd minute, before Andreas Schjelderup opened the scoring for Norway in the 36th minute with a powerful strike that nestled in Jordan Pickford's net — one of the finest goals of the tournament.
Norway continued to press, with Alexander Sørloth and Martin Ødegaard both squandering dangerous chances, while the referee disallowed a Harry Kane goal for offside.
Just before the break, Bellingham restored parity with a brilliant goal in stoppage time — in the 45+2nd minute — to send the teams in level at 1-1.
Manager Thomas Tuchel made two substitutions at the start of the second half, introducing Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze in an attempt to regain control of the match.
Despite the changes, Norway remained the more dangerous side; Pickford denied a Sørloth effort, before a second Norwegian goal was ruled out following a VAR review due to a foul on Haaland in the build-up.
Norway's superiority persisted, with the crossbar sparing England a second goal after a Christopher Ajer header, while goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland almost committed a costly error in stoppage time, though the scoreline remained unchanged.
The match went to extra time, where the initiative shifted in England's favour as they imposed their rhythm and controlled the flow of play.
In the first period of extra time, Bellingham pounced on a rebound from the goalkeeper following a Morgan Rogers shot to put the ball in the net, scoring the winning goal and securing qualification in the 93rd minute.
Norway attempted to fight back during the second period of extra time, but the English defence held firm until the final whistle, as England continue their dream of reclaiming the world title for the first time since 1966.