England booked their place in the World Cup 2026 semi-finals with a hard-fought quarter-final win over Norway, overcoming Erling Haaland’s tournament-leading form to advance.
Jude Bellingham was the picture of relief and emotion at the final whistle, celebrating with both fists clenched before pointing to the sky in front of England’s traveling support. The win keeps Thomas Tuchel’s side on course for a first World Cup title in six decades and sets up a semi-final against Lionel Messi’s Argentina.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also made history in the tournament, becoming England’s all-time leading appearance-maker at the FIFA World Cup with his 18th cap, surpassing the previous record.
Norway, playing in one of their best-ever World Cup knockout runs, pushed England deep into the match behind Haaland, who arrives at the semi-final stage with seven goals, one of the tournament’s best individual campaigns. England will need a similarly complete performance to get past an Argentina side that has scored freely throughout the knockout rounds.