Jude Bellingham’s star shines as risk-averse England progress to World Cup semi-finals with winless Norway
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – The game between Norway and England had several exciting names attached to it: World Cup; quarterfinal; the golden shoe race; Miami (even if that wasn’t entirely accurate); On Saturday. However, when the two teams took to the field on a hot and humid night in South Florida, entertainment was not what the teams were striving for as England won 2-1 to reach their second World Cup semi-final in the last three tournaments.
Instead, both teams took a tough approach to one of the most anticipated games of the tournament so far, despite boasting two of the game’s top scorers in Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, the former with seven goals and the latter with six, level with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and France’s Kylian Mbappe with eight each. Neither Kane nor Haaland were in sight, but neither player was front and center on Saturday. Safety seems to be the priority, the strict restrictions of making or missing the semi-final of the World Cup maybe burdened everyone a bit.
A quiet World Cup quarter-final played out quietly at the Hard Rock Stadium, with Norway and England desperate to get into an impressive and effective defensive position, but almost forgetting there was work to be done at the other end. In the long 28 minutes at the beginning of the match, there was not a single shot, although Kane finally put that streak to an end with a miss just after the water break. Suddenly the game recovered because Norway decided to play football.
Naturally, Haaland was the first to have a clear crack at goal and forced Jordan Pickford into a save that brought relief to the England fans. The downtime didn’t last very long. Seconds later, Norway scored again for England and Andreas Schjelderup’s ball turned into a goal that gave the players the first time to enter the quarterfinals of the World Cup with a 1-0 lead.
It was a shot in the arm that was needed in the game because England, who are the favorites to win this game and one of the players chosen to win the World Cup, learned a lesson the hard way. They also have to play football in the hope of getting an equalizing goal. After a flurry of shots from Norway that added to England’s pressure, the idea that doing the most obvious thing might actually reap some rewards has finally set in. Jude Bellingham led the charge, eventually making a nice move after Anthony Gordon sent the ball to him. It was the star quality moment this game had been waiting for and the most important moment for the first half to end. Of course, these teams would like to wrap things up in 90 minutes and realize that a little passing can go a long way.
OK?
The level result helped Norway and England turn their ugly heads, setting up a more difficult second half than the first. The teams had a combined 0.49 expected goals between halftime and halftime, but the entire second half, combined 0.28 expected goals on seven shots. Norway’s most notable chances came from set pieces, with their corners encouraging. Haaland and Kane weren’t particularly involved, either, with the Norwegian goalscorer not having a single shot while the England captain didn’t register a single one after the break.
That didn’t change, somehow, as the prospect of overtime on a tough day loomed. The chosen monotony of the game had set in. Overtime is what these teams have achieved, their risk-free nature a natural punishment for their selection during a World Cup that has otherwise been described as pure entertainment.
Thankfully, Bellingham didn’t seem to get the memo. A game crying out for a star got one from the midfielder, who has four goals and an assist in five games in his first World Cup, even if the second on Saturday wasn’t as good as the first. It was a good example of why stars matter, though – goalie Orjan Nylard’s failure to catch Morgan Rogers’ long shot early in overtime meant it went straight into Bellingham’s path. Without an opposing defender, Bellingham had an easy task ahead of him and sent the ball into the back of an empty net.
It was enough for England to hold on to some form of control, but in reality, the rest of the game provided a stark reminder of which team had just made it to the World Cup quarterfinals and which had not. Norway’s defensive resolve melted away at one point, and with Haaland out for the last 15 minutes of the game, they will have to look for goals elsewhere. Unfortunately, a confluence of events allowed England coach Thomas Tuchel to get on his way to playing one last time, not that he had ever left us entirely. Norway no longer had much of a threat on the pitch and even if they did, they had been underpowered in the past. Keeping a small lead was ultimately a useful decision, even if it wasn’t for 90 minutes.
England’s unsatisfying way is not a loss, the bad saying about winning the defense championship has a reason, after all, Tuchel’s job is to win the World Cup. Almost a week after a 3-2 victory at the Estadio Azteca against the tournament hosts, however, the game turned into something else entirely. It was a sign that they were moving into a title-winning mode, but risked devaluing the winning strategy by prioritizing the desire to simply go undefeated. Time will tell if it is more expensive, they will like the chances they get against Argentina, the current world champions with a shaky defense and a habit of tight games, or Switzerland, who have just entered the quarterfinals of the World Cup and will be in pieces when they face England in the semi-finals on Wednesday. An extra thirty minutes on the field when they will have just three days between this game and the next one will not be ideal, especially if their next opponent can finish the job with 90.
This wasn’t the first important game whose importance led to unsatisfying performances from both teams, and it won’t be the last. The game wasn’t a classic and it shouldn’t have been, although it would have been fun if it had been. England, however, reached the semi-finals of the World Cup resting — and knowing they could do it.
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