Jude Bellingham’s goal for England against Norway in the World Cup quarter-finals arrived in controversial fashion
New footage appears to show the spidercam was struck prior to Jude Bellingham’s goal (Image: TSN)
New footage of the controversial build-up to Jude Bellingham’s goal appears to show the ball making contact with the spider camera. Just before the interval in England’s World Cup quarter-final clash against Norway, the Three Lions drew level through Bellingham, who subsequently netted the winner, yet fierce controversy has erupted over whether his opening goal should have been allowed to stand.
There was no suggestion of a foul or offside in the lead-up, with Elliot Anderson gathering the loose ball before spreading a pass wide to Anthony Gordon. He got the better of his marker and picked out Bellingham just outside the penalty area, with the Real Madrid star producing several sublime touches before drilling the ball past Orjan Nyland.
It was the Norwegian goalkeeper who led the protests over the goal, insisting that his goal kick — which was plucked from the air by Anderson — had struck the spider cam, a device suspended by several thick cables that provides television viewers with an aerial perspective of the play.
A fresh slow-motion clip of the moment has since surfaced, courtesy of Canadian sports network TSN, with their footage zooming in on the instant the ball appears to make contact with the spider cam. Although the image is somewhat blurred, it does appear that contact is indeed made, and the subsequent trajectory of the ball further suggests that something altered its course.
The contentious decision has provoked considerable frustration within the Norway camp, with Andreas Schjelderup, who had given Norway the lead, describing it as scandalous. He told TV2: “You see that the ball changes direction and lands ten meters earlier. I haven’t seen the pictures again, but if it hit, it’s a scandal.”
Norway goalscorer Andreas Schjelderup blasted the Jude Bellingham controversy as a scandal (Image: ISI Photos via Getty Images)
FIFA’s statement on the controversy read: “Before England’s goal in minute 45+2 against Norway, 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.”
Stale Solbakken also offered his reaction to the controversy, with the Norwegian manager accepting FIFA’s data while simultaneously making plain his belief that contact with the spidercam had occurred. He said: “Many on the bench reacted immediately I was not one of them. I can’t say anything about that because FIFA, if there is no sound in the chip, what can I say against that.
“The ball drops straight down from heaven. I saw another way just then so I also don’t know what happened. I think it’s pretty clear that it did and yeah, it was a strange thing.” The Three Lions will now meet Argentina for a spot in the World Cup final, while Spain face France in the opposite semi-final.