For the fourth time in history, the England national football team will play in the semi-finals of the World Cup! "Proud Albion" defeated Norway 2-1 after 120 minutes of great struggle in the "hell" of Miami.
It wasn't the most beautiful football you'll see, but Tuchel's England didn't come to this year's World Cup to "fill the eyes" of the spectators, but to raise the "golden goddess". At some points in tonight's match, it seemed like we were watching a chess game, and in the end, the German checked his colleague on the other side, Stole Solbakken.
Their rival will be the winner of the Argentina-Switzerland duel (03am).
It was definitely the night that launched Jude Bellingham into football history. The Real Madrid ace scored twice for the English side, ending the Vikings' dreams.
Bellingham, with seven goals, tied with Pele for second place on the list of all-time World Cup goalscorers, if only players under 23 years of age or younger are counted.
The only one who is better and who has scored more goals in World Cups by the age of 23 is Kylian Mbappe (12).
It was as if the intense heat in Florida had lulled both teams to sleep. We saw practically nothing in the first half hour. The lull at the "Hard Rock" stadium was interrupted in the 36th minute.
Andreas Sjelderup surprised Jordan Pickford with an incredible left-side shot and fired it past the post to give Norway the lead. It looked like the Benfica player might have intended to cross, but it turned out to be the best possible outcome for his team.
Momentum shifted to the Vikings, who had a dangerous counterattack just minutes after the goal that could have doubled their lead. However, Alexandre Serlot was hesitant, and his shot was easily saved by Pickford.
And then, like a bolt from the blue - in the first minute of stoppage time in the first half, the shaken English came back to life. Anthony Gordon played a pass through to Bellingham, who fired a beautiful shot into the far corner.
Thomas Tuchel's team ran wild at that moment - they were millimeters away from a total turnaround even before going into the break. Declan Rice played past Harry Kane in the 49th minute, the Bayern Munich striker scored, but was minimally offside at the moment of the pass.
VAR quickly helped the English as well. Just 10 minutes into the second half, Norway managed to score again. After a scramble in the Three Lions' penalty area, the ball found its way to Torbjorn Hegem, who easily slotted it into the net from two metres.
However, after reviewing the footage, referee Klemon Turpan determined that Erling Haaland had committed a foul on Eliot Anderson before the corner kick.
The Vikings continued to press, and the peak of that pressure came in the 75th minute, when they were a little lucky to reach the second round. Fredrik Aursnes returned the ball towards the box, Christopher Ayre headed it, Pickford was overcome, but the crossbar blocked it.
England could have decided the match in the final minutes of the "regular" period. It was played in the 87th minute when Bukayo Saka broke through on the right side, crossed into the box, the ball passed Erjan Niland, but Aursnes intervened in front of Eberechi Eze and Kane and prevented a sure goal.
It went into extra time, in which the English managed to settle the game. It took Tuchel's team less than 180 seconds to score the second goal and completely turn the game around. Morgan Rogers shot from more than 20 meters, Niland, Norway's hero from the round of 16 match against Brazil, reacted badly, and deflected the ball into the box, where the ever-present Bellingham appeared again.
VAR had one more intervention to make. He awarded Turpan a penalty for Albion in the 99th minute after Oscar Bob brought down Jed Spence. However, after looking at the situation from several angles, the French referee determined that the Englishman had provoked contact.
During the break between two extra periods, the Norwegian coach made a strange substitution - with the Vikings chasing the score, Stole Solbaken took off Haaland and replaced him with Jörgen Strand Larsen. It seems that it was not an injury, considering that the Manchester City striker was quite angry after the substitution.
In the second overtime, the English defended brilliantly, the Norwegians failed to pose a serious threat.
See more:
Download the app and follow the news
FOLLOW US ON
