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What is the story?
FIFA settled Norway’s dispute over their 2026 World Cup quarter-final tie with England by confirming that the ball did not touch a camera wire from the ceiling of Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium before Jude Bellingham’s goal, after examining data from a smart chip embedded in the ball.
Fox Sports reported that the incident occurred when Norwegian goalkeeper Nyland hit his attackers with a long ball from his own area. The ball suddenly fell to England’s Elliott Anderson, who launched a quick attack that ended with Bellingham scoring 1-1 in first-half stoppage time.
Neyland immediately went to the French referee Clément Turpin to tell him that the ball had hit the cable and that the goal should not count, but the referee ignored his complaints, as well as those of Erling Holland and coach Stahl Solbakken, who strongly protested the continuation of the game.
Technology settles the debate
FIFA officially ended the controversy by announcing that the smart chip embedded in the ball, which detects any contact or sudden change in the ball’s trajectory, did not register any touch of the cable, saying in an official statement:
Former international referee and analyst for the “Marcador” program of “Radio Marca” Pérez Burol confirmed the correctness of the decision, saying: “With this technique, if the ball touched the camera cable, the goal would be allowed, but if there was a slight touch to the camera cable, there is no reason to disallow the goal.”
The incident has become one of the tournament’s most high-profile refereeing controversies, as Video Assistant (VAR) technology and modern technology have faced increasing criticism over their use and double standards, but FIFA’s quick intervention on the technical data finally put an end to the controversy, upholding the validity of Bellingham’s goal that gave England an extra-time victory in the semi-final.
