England and Argentina to meet in semi-final. Norway and Switzerland out of the FIFA World Cup 2026™ tournament. England win after a 2-1 extra-time win against Norway, double from Jude Bellingham. Argentina beat Switzerland 3-1 in extra-time. A couple of controversial VAR reviews in both quarter final matches. A red card for Switzerland's Breel Embolo, who became the first player sent off under FIFA's new mistaken identity law, after a VAR review. Erling Haaland leaves the tournament with pride for the next generation. Join your host Haylena Krishnamoorthy for this episode of World Cup Daily | The 90+ Podcast, as she talks to former Central Coast Mariners coach and Sydney Football Club assistant Phil Moss, to break down the England-Argentina match.
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TRANSCRIPT
England are through to the FIFA World Cup semi-finals after a 2-1 extra-time win against Norway in Miami.
England fans arrived in full voice, believing the Three Lions could take another step towards World Cup glory.
Their opponents, Norway, were equally fired up.
Led by superstar Erling Haaland - nicknamed "The Viking" by many fans - Norway has captured attention both on and off the field.
The striker has built a YouTube audience of more than 5.5 million subscribers, with behind-the-scenes videos giving fans a glimpse into life at the World Cup.
Norway reached the quarter-finals after taking over five-time world champions Brazil 2-1 in the Round of 16, with Haaland playing a key role in the upset.
But for England, it wasn't quite as straightforward.
After surviving a nervy Round of 32 clash against DR Congo, the Three Lions then produced one of the tournament's most memorable victories, edging Mexico 3-2 at the Azteca Stadium.
Before kick-off, there was a poignant moment.
A minute's silence was held in memory of South African footballer Jayden Adams, who died aged 25, after only recently playing at the World Cup.
The Bafana Bafana player's death was confirmed by South Africa’s Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture in a statement on Saturday.
No official cause of death was released.
In today's match, England's coach Thomas Tuchel made two changes to their side that defeated Mexico.
Noni Madueke came into the starting eleven on the right wing, replacing the injured Bukayo Saka - who eventually came on later on.
John Stones also returned to the side, with Jarrell Quansah suspended after his straight red card in the previous match.
Meanwhile, Norway coach Ståle Solbakken made just one change to their side that beat Brazil, bringing Andreas Schjelderup into the starting side in place of Antonio Nusa.
Norway struck first.
Andreas Schjelderup opened the scoring.
Martin Ødegaard nearly doubled the advantage soon after with a long-range effort that forced England's goalkeeper Jordan Pickford into action.
But England responded just before the break.
Jude Bellingham found the equaliser in first-half stoppage time.
Moments later, the Three Lions captain Harry Kane thought he'd completed the turnaround, only for the offside flag to deny him.
England introduced Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze after half-time, replacing Noni Madueke and Declan Rice as Tuchel looked for fresh energy.
Norway then believed they'd restored their lead.
But after a lengthy VAR review, the goal - by Torbjorn Heggem - was ruled out, with Erling Haaland judged to have fouled Elliot Anderson during the build-up.
England pushed hard late in normal time.
Commentator: "He's animated Thomas Tuchel on the touchline"
Saka went close, while Eberechi Eze forced another strong save just minutes before the 90 minute mark.
With temperatures hovering around 30 degrees, both teams were forced into another exhausting 30 minutes of extra time.
England's history with extra time and penalty shootouts hasn't always been kind.
But this time, Jude Bellingham stepped up once again.
To unpack the match, I spoke to former Central Coast Mariners coach and Sydney Football Club assistant Phil Moss, who's an English-born Australian.
He describes the match as tense and tactical.
"You could tell both sides really had to adjust to the conditions. It was steaming, humid, hot, for the game and as you reach this stage of the tournament, fatigue definitely plays a factor, and I think we saw that with the, the winning goal in the end, with the Norwegian goalkeeper, with a save that on any other day he probably makes comfortably, couldn't grasp the ball, and Bellingham was, Jude on the spot to tap it home and get the result for England in the end."
He says England are continuing to grow under Thomas Tuchel.
"I think Thomas Tuchel's doing a fantastic job, you know. You can't, fault him. Wouldn't it be ironic if it was a German, to lead England to their first World Cup title since 1966, given the history between England and Germany. So I, I think he's managed things well. He looks, he certainly looks the part on the sideline in the technical area. He's emotional when he needs to be. He's calm when he needs to be. You can see he's getting his message across, and I think he got the, the, the tactics and the substitutions just about right, for this one to get to the semifinals."
And here's Thomas Tuchel, after the match.
"We made life very very difficult for ourselves today, the result is fantastic, we are in the last four that's amazing but not happy with the performance.
Journalist: In what sense?
TT: "In every sense, again - the commitment is there, we made life very very difficult for us, in the way we played, how we played, sloppy, lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today."
But Bellingham remained optimistic, attributing their success to the team's character and perseverance.
"Character, perseverance, even when things weren't working, we found a way to win the game again, whether it's 90 or 120 we will get everything we got, you saw that there, whoever was ready to come on came on and smashed this, so proud of this team in a World Cup semi final."
And shortly after in a post match conference he shared a pep talk from his mother.
Bellingham was one of five England players who picked up yellow cards in their 3-2 win over Mexico, another yellow card in today's match would've resulted in him missing the semi finals.
"Yeah my mum's been telling me all week to watch my language, watch my tackles, watch my face, watch my emotions, so I think she grilled into me, all week about being careful about a yellow card. To be honest, when you play the right way, credit to the referee he was class, he still let you communicate in a respectful way, a lot of referees don't let you do that, I think when I get the balance right and there's a referee who's willing to listen, it makes it a lot easier, and in the end it was just a really well competed game of football and luckily I got through it."
In another controversial moment during Saturday's match, England were denied a crucial extra-time penalty against Norway, after a VAR review reversed the referee’s initial spot-kick decision.
Djed Spence was reviewed after initiating contact with Norway's Oscar Bobb.
The referee initially pointed to the penalty spot, giving England a golden opportunity to take the lead.
... but later revealed there was no foul worthy of a penalty.
"The penalty - I agree with VAR, and the final decision. I think when an attacking player takes on a defender in the box and throws their leg across the defender, to initiate contact, I don't think it should be a penalty, so I think, VAR got it just right. It's not often we say that about VAR, so it was good to see them come up trumps with a big decision in a massive game."
Despite Norway's great run at the tournament, their dream at this World Cup ends today.
"I think the takeaway for Norway is well done. They hadn't been in a World Cup for a long time. Haaland showed that he can do it on the world stage just like he does it in the English Premier League. He was absolutely superb, in this tournament. bit quieter today. You could see that he was quite fatigued, and he actually, was substituted in, during, extra time. But he's a big frame of a lad, isn't he? So, you know, the effort he's put into the tournament this, this far I think, took its toll, for this game against England. I think the takeaway for them will be probably an over-reliance on Ødegaard and, and Haaland."
Norway made its return to the World Cup stage after 28 years away.
Manchester City star Erling Haaland says their performance inspires a new generation in the country.
"How we put Norway on the map I think is maybe one thing that touches me the most, I think with the role with how good people we are I think that really touches me."
My SBS colleague John Baldock sent these scenes from fans in New York.
"We got Bellingham, it's coming home, we're telling em', we're English..in New York. We got Harry Kane, we're going to score again..it's Englishmen..in New York."
Meanwhile back home in Sydney, another colleague of mine, Youssef Saudi spoke to these English fans.
Voxie England fan: "It's coming homeeeee"
SBS: "2-1. Good win."
Voxie England fan: "I nearly placed a bet this morning, I think it's going to be 2-1 I didn't I should have.
Voxie England fan: "It was worth getting up for"
Voxie England fan: "Yeah definitely, so worth it."
Ahead of their next match, Phil Moss says recovery will be absolutely key.
Attention then turned to another heavyweight of world football - Argentina- who will now face England in the semi finals, after a 3-1 extra-time win over Switzerland in Kansas City.
Before the match, Phil Moss questioned whether Argentina had become a little too reliant on Lionel Messi.
"You fear if Messi's not on, which he has been so far this World Cup, then Argentina might struggle. They, they haven't been overly convincing. Of course, they, they drew with Cape Verde in the, in the group stage. They had to come from two goals down against Egypt in the round of 16. And I think Switzerland have quietly become one of the most organised teams in this tournament. They've conceded few goals. They've eliminated Colombia on penalties. They're very disciplined defensively. I think they can smell blood in the water and they'll go for it. I'm not saying they'll go for it for the from the first minute against Argentina, but if they sense there's some susceptibility on the Argentinian side, I think Switzerland are capable of, isolating that and, and taking full advantage."
He wasn't entirely wrong, except this happened.
Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring .. with a Messi assist before Dan Ndoye equalised to force extra time after a resilient Swiss display.
Julián Álvarez scored in the 112th minute with Lautaro Martínez [[lao-ta-row]] adding a late third to seal the result.
The match also produced another controversial World Cup first.
Switzerland's Breel Embolo became the first player sent off under FIFA's new mistaken identity law after VAR overturned a foul decision and instead ruled he had simulated contact against Argentina.
"After review, there is no foul for number five, and number seven there is a clear simulation, final decision, yellow card for number seven (*ref takes out yellow card and then red card.)"
"I think there's going to be a lot of people, more than Switzerland who's going to be upset with this review, I feel really sorry for Embolo."
And for Messi?
Just playing today was another milestone in what is shaping as a legacy-defining World Cup.
His match against Switzerland was the 15th knockout game of his World Cup career - the most by any player in tournament history - moving him past Miroslav Klose's previous record of 14.
Argentina now turns its attention to England, with their semi-final set for Thursday at 5am AEST.
England's last World Cup title was 60 years ago, in 1966.
And Phil Moss says he'd love to see England go one step further.
"It'd be nice to see England in the final, whether they're taking on, France or Spain."
