Three Lions repel Viking horde with Bellingham brace

Jude Bellingham locked arms with teammate Harry Kane as England fans belted out their rendition of the Beatles' classic Hey Jude.

Bellingham had certainly earned the serenade. He scored twice on Saturday — an equalizer in the first half and the go-ahead goal in the third minute of extra time — to give England a 2-1 win that lifted it past Norway and into the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 2018.

The Real Madrid star has now matched Kane with six goals in this tournament, two behind France's Kylian Mbappe and Argentina's Lionel Messi, and one shy of Norway's Erling Haaland, who was held scoreless by England. Bellingham also scored twice in the round of 16 when England beat co-host Mexico.

England, winner of the 1966 World Cup and facing pressure to return to the title match, is now one win away from getting there. The Three Lions will face Argentina in the semifinals.

"The game is split into loads of different facets. Some of it is technical, tactical," Bellingham said. "For me, the biggest one is psychological and how you can manage setbacks, how you can manage adversity. This team showed, yet again, that they can do it, and that's a really valuable skill and trait to have."

Not everyone was thrilled with England's performance, though.

"We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today," coach Thomas Tuchel said in a contentious interview with Fox Sports.

"The result is fantastic. We're in the last four. It's amazing, but not happy with the performance ... in every sense."

Tuchel clarified in his news conference that he was "proud and happy" with how his squad has overcome adversity, but added, "I'm also a football coach, and I also have demands.

"I think we can play faster. I think we can play more clinically."

Bellingham seemed to disagree with his coach's critique after England prevailed in the heat and humidity of South Florida, with temperatures reaching 33 C at the start of warmups.

"Well, whatever," Bellingham said, shaking his head. "It's difficult out there. It's a tough shift.

"My thoughts and appreciation go to the players out there who put in a great shift."

Andreas Schjelderup scored in the 36th minute for Norway, a team that reached its first quarterfinals and took the internet by storm with its "Viking row" and the charisma of Haaland, their fearsome 6-foot-5 striker.

Haaland, however, failed to score for the first time in 15 competitive games for his country.

The Manchester City striker had scored seven times in his four games at the World Cup, carrying Norway to the quarterfinals in their first appearance at the global showpiece for 28 years.

That run included eliminating Brazil in the last 16, as Haaland struck twice to knock out the five-time winner.

This time, though, he ended the match sitting dejectedly on the bench, after he was subbed out for Jorgen Strand Larsen in the second half of extra time.

"It was not a tough decision to take him out," Norway coach Stale Solbakken said.

"He was finished. Maybe I should have taken him out 10 minutes before. He also got a dead leg in the second half, so that, combined with the fatigue, he did everything he could."

Norway nearly went ahead 2-1 in the 56th minute when Torbjorn Heggem put a rebound past goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after a corner kick.

Following a video review, the goal was disallowed because of a foul by Haaland in the box. Haaland was also denied by Pickford on a pointblank header in the first half.

Schjelderup, making just his second start of the tournament, fired a shot that caromed off the right post and into the net to stun an England team that had dominated possession to that point. Bellingham's equalizer from close range elicited a huge roar from the crowd.

'Amazing generation'

Haaland said Norway's World Cup performances had inspired a new generation, despite the disappointment of its quarterfinal loss.

"How we put Norway on the map is maybe one thing that touches me the most," said Haaland.

"Hopefully now, we can establish something when it comes to Euros, World Cups and everything, because our generation is amazing, and, also, all this gives motivation to young people back in Norway that it's possible to play on the world's biggest stage in a Norwegian shirt."

Haaland's brand as a global superstar has soared in recent weeks, with waves of new American fans taking to his affable off-field personality, as well as his goalscoring prowess.

He is hoping Norway can build on its success in the United States to become a powerhouse in the coming years.

"It's kind of difficult to take in this kind of a show, or the roller coaster that we've been on now for the last six weeks," added the 25-year-old.

"I think this changes Norway, I think it changes me. I've said it many times, we're building something in Norway.

"It's about maintaining this, because, again, we've shown that it's possible to be one of the biggest football nations in the world."

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