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

7 hours ago 4

Nyland goes long

Ørjan Håskjold Nyland’s goal-kick late in the first-half of Norway’s World Cup quarter-final with England is intercepted by Elliot Anderson

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

Anderson with the ball at his feet having intercepted Nyland’s goal-kick

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

Jude Bellingham holds off the challenge of Torbjørn Heggem to score the first of his two goals in Miami

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

Nyland protests with the referee, Clément Turpin, in the aftermath of Bellingham’s goal

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 are clearly not happy with the nature of Bellingham’s goal.

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’s ‘snicko’ reader suggests there was noting untoward with Bellingham’s goal

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].”