"Well Done": Erling Haaland's Father Takes Brutal Swipe After England Beat Norway
The FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinal between England and Norway turned into a controversial affair, with the Norwegian camp accusing the referee of favouring the Three Lions.
- England defeated Norway 2-1 in the 2026 World Cup quarterfinal to reach the semifinals
- Erling Haaland's father Alfie blamed the referee for Norway's defeat
- "Saved bye the referee. Hope you win the WC now. But feel we got robbed today," wrote Alfie on X
The FIFA World Cup 2026 quarterfinal between England and Norway turned into a controversial affair, with the Norwegian camp accusing the referee of favouring the Three Lions. Harry Kane's England ended Erling Haaland-led Norway's dream of winning their maiden FIFA World Cup title with a 2-1 victory. Jude Bellingham scored twice to help England reach the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time in their history. However, the defeat did not sit well with Norway, as the team's coach and players criticised the referee for what they perceived as biased officiating.
The flashpoint came during first-half stoppage time when Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland's long clearance appeared to change trajectory suddenly before falling into the path of England's Elliot Anderson, who launched the move that resulted in Jude Bellingham's equaliser.
While FIFA quickly issued a statement following Norway's 2-1 defeat in Miami, saying that a chip sensor embedded in the ball showed no indication that it had struck a cable, Haaland's father took to X (formerly Twitter) to take a swipe at the referee.
Replying to a post which congratulated Jude Bellingham and England for the win, Haaland's father Alfie wrote, "Well done Bellingham and referee."
Well done Bellingham and referee.
— Alfie Haaland (@alfiehaaland) July 11, 2026
Commenting on another post and wrote, "Really? Saved bye the referee. Hope you win the WC now. But feel we got robbed today."
Really? Saved bye the referee. Hope you win the WC now. But feel we got robbed today. https://t.co/Lplf9uyOzM
— Alfie Haaland (@alfiehaaland) July 12, 2026
However, this wasn't the only controversial moment in the match as during the second-half, Norway were denied a goal after Torbjorn Heggem nodded home following a corner 10 minutes after the restart. A delivery from Norway captain Martin Odegaard deflected off a couple of bodies inside the box before reaching the far post, where Heggem side-footed the ball into the back of the net.
Replays showed that star striker Erling Haaland had pushed England's Elliot Anderson to the ground before Odegaard had even taken the corner. As a result, the referee penalised Haaland after being advised by the VAR team to review the incident.
"I felt like I was being pulled the whole way, and I think it was a soft decision," Haaland said. "If that's a free kick, then I should have a free kick in almost every duel in every single match."
England
Norway