Norway’s World Cup dream ended with a 2-1 quarterfinal defeat against England in Miami yesterday, but their frustration centred on a moment that belonged as much to the Laws of the Game as to the drama of the night.
The Norwegians claimed the ball struck one of the overhead Spidercam wires in the build-up to Jude Bellingham’s equaliser.
Under the laws of the game, had the ball hit the wire, it would have been treated as outside interference by referee Clement Turpin and the game would have stopped. The goal would not have stood and play would have restarted with a dropped ball.
“It’s ridiculous, this one with the wire,” Norway and Fulham midfielder Sander Berge said. “[The result] 2-1 speaks for itself, there are small margins and we know which way it went.”
Spidercam is suspended from four tension wires attached to different corners of the ground and gives broadcasters aerial angles, including the default angle for penalty kicks. Norway coach Stale Solbakken and his staff protested to Turpin from the bench, while goalkeeper Orjan Nyland appeared to be the only player on the pitch to appeal.
Asked if Spidercam should have been credited with an assist, Solbakken said: “Yeah, that was unlucky for us. The ball fell down from the sky. It changed direction, so it became a misunderstanding and it was a bad moment. We can’t do anything about that. We’re not playing the game again, so that’s how it is.”
FIFA, however, later said there was “no evidence” the ball had touched a wire. FIFA Media posted on X that before England’s goal in the 45+2 minute, the connected ball sensor showed “no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air,” and therefore no evidence of contact with the overhead wire.
Solbakken admitted there was little to say if the chip made no sound, though he added: “The ball dropped down straight from heaven.”
Norway were also aggrieved when Torbjorn Heggem’s second-half header was ruled out by VAR for Erling Haaland’s shove on Elliot Anderson. The connected-ball technology had already caused controversy in Portugal’s 2-1 last-32 win over Croatia, when Josko Gvardiol’s late equaliser was ruled out after Igor Matanovic was deemed to have touched the ball from an offside position.
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