​Norway coach Stale Solbakken said on Saturday that he was convinced the ball struck an overhead camera cable before England scored the crucial equaliser in their World Cup quarter-final victory. FIFA released a swift statement after Norway’s 2-1 defeat in Miami, saying that a chip sensor embedded in the ball showed no sign of contact with a cable, but Solbakken remained adamant. “That was unlucky for us,” Solbakken said. “The ball fell straight down from the sky, so it changed its direction. But we can’t do anything about that. I don’t think we will play the game again. So, that’s how it is.”
The flashpoint occurred in first-half stoppage time when Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland’s long clearance appeared to alter its trajectory and end up in the path of England attacker Elliot Anderson, who launched the attack that led to Jude Bellingham’s equaliser. Norway’s players protested to French referee Clement Turpin—who could have disallowed the goal, and ordered a drop ball under FIFA rules—but had no success. Solbakken expressed sympathy for Turpin’s decision not to disallow the goal. “He says that he didn’t see it himself, and that he didn’t receive any message that it actually happened, and that’s a fair explanation,” Solbakken said of the French official. “And since FIFA says there was no touch, and there is no signal from the chip in the ball, then he can’t do anything about it. But the ball fell straight down just in front of the bench. So I mean, it did touch it.” If there has been no sound or any signal from the chip, what can I say against that? But the ball drops down straight from heaven.”
FIFA’s statement noted that the chip sensor technology—previously used to disallow a goal in Croatia’s knockout defeat to Portugal this tournament—showed no evidence that the ball hit the cable. Solbakken, meanwhile, spoke with a measured tone about the other calls that went against his team, notably a VAR decision that overturned a goal which would have given Norway a 2-1 lead in the second half, and he acknowledged that his side had also benefited from favorable calls in their last-16 win over Brazil. “Well, we can sit here, we can complain, and maybe we can rightfully feel that most margins today went against us, but against Brazil, margins were in our favour,” Solbakken said. “That was definitely not the case today, but that’s also part of football. And maybe we need some margins in our favour to beat the world’s best teams, Brazil and England, who are among the top five in FIFA’s ranking. I’m quite sure that we can. You spend a lot of time on those situations, but it doesn’t help us.”