FIFA stated there is “no evidence” the ball struck an overhead wire before England‘s equalizing goal against Norway in the Three Lions’ 2-1 World Cup quarterfinals victory.
A goal kick appeared to clip a wire over the field late in the first half of the match in the World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, shortly before England’s Jude Bellingham scored the tying goal.
By rule, if the ball had been noticed hitting the wire, play would have stopped and a drop ball would have been utilized to determine possession.
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“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,” a FIFA statement said.
But in this case, play was not interrupted and it was not known if the video assistant referee, Jerome Brisard, reviewed the play. Brisard was also in the VAR role for the Argentina-Egypt match in the quarterfinals, one where Argentina rallied to win 3-2 and Egypt complained that officiating was unfair.
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. pic.twitter.com/gYf9ukfveT
Read more:Romero says Argentina bothered by leaky defense in knockouts
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) July 11, 2026
Earlier in the tournament, a sensor in the ball was used to rule out a potential equalizing goal for Croatia in their loss to Portugal after it detected it had touched a Croatia player and rendered the goal offside.
Norway goalkeeper Ørjan Nyland took the kick to start the play in question Saturday, which was controlled by England seconds after the trajectory of the ball changed, suggesting it brushed one of the cables used to suspend a robotically controlled camera. The ball was eventually played to Bellingham, who beat Nyland with a low shot to the far post.
Nyland slapped the turf in frustration and he, Norway star striker Erling Haaland and coach Ståle Solbakken had words for referee Clement Turpin of France after the play and going into halftime.
Read more:England’s Jude Bellingham not confrontational with Ghana’s Jordan Ayew – sources
The Argentina-Egypt game saw an Egypt goal taken off the scoreboard in the 58th minute after a VAR review determined that Marwan Attia had fouled Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez.
Information form The Associated Press was used in this report.
