Cablegate: should Jude Bellingham’s first goal against Norway have been disallowed?

Midfielder got England back on level terms in fine fashion but pictures suggest illegal interference in the buildup

Nyland goes long

Norway’s goalkeeper, Ørjan Håskjold Nyland, launches a goal-kick down the pitch two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first half. The ball falls just inside England’s half, near the touchline, where Elliot Anderson is able to gather possession and drive forward.

The ball ‘drops’ to Anderson

The sudden, sharp descent of the ball towards Anderson suggests something may have interfered with its trajectory while in mid-air.

Bellingham bursts forward and scores

Anderson plays a through pass to Anthony Gordon who, having collected the ball, plays it inside to Jude Bellingham, who brilliantly carries it into Norway’s penalty area before sweeping a shot past Nyland to get England back on level terms just before the break.

Nyland is up in arms

As England celebrate, Norway are up in arms, no one more so than Nyland, who runs towards the referee, Clément Turpin, making clear his belief that the ball hit something, namely an overhead cable used to suspend a robotically controlled camera, before dropping into the path of Anderson.

… so too are Norway’s coaches

Norway’s coaching staff also react in frustration at Bellingham’s goal, making clear that they, too, believe the ball hit an overhead cable. “Many on the bench reacted immediately,” said Norway’s manager, Ståle Solbakken. “I was not one of them, but many saw it. The ball fell down straight in front of the bench, so it did.”

Expressing his own frustrations, Norway’s midfielder Sander Berge said: “It’s ridiculous, this one with the wire. There are small margins and we know which way it went.”

Fifa deny foul play

Fifa release a statement denying Nyland’s goal-kick had been unfairly, and illegally, intercepted while in mid-air. “Before England’s goal … the sensor in the Connected Ball showed no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball,” it reads.

Speaking about the incident, Thomas Tuchel added: “There is a chip in the ball who can tell you if a hair touches it, so they should be able to tell you if it [a touch] happened [here].”

Viking party is a Viking funeral

The goal stands, Bellingham scores again in extra time and Norway’s World Cup party is well and truly over.