Norway's run at the 2026 World Cup ended in a 2-1 quarter-final defeat by England in Miami, with the Norwegians left frustrated by the belief that Jude Bellingham's equaliser should have been ruled out. They argued the ball had struck one of the overhead spidercam wires in the build-up to the goal; had a touch been confirmed, the goal would have been disallowed and play restarted with a dropped ball. The dispute matters because it turned on new ball-sensor technology, and the margins in a knockout tie were, in Norway's view, decided against them.

The incident came in first-half stoppage time (45+2), with England trailing to Andreas Schjelderup's opener. Replays showed goalkeeper Orjan Nyland's goal kick passing close to the suspended cable before the ball fell to Elliot Anderson, who set up Anthony Gordon to feed Bellingham for the finish. Fifa said the sensor in the connected ball showed "no peak" in the "heartbeat of the ball", indicating no evidence of contact, and referee Clement Turpin received no signal; Norway coach Stale Solbakken accepted the explanation while maintaining the ball "dropped straight from heaven". Norway were also aggrieved that a second-half Torbjorn Heggem header was disallowed after VAR penalised Erling Haaland for shoving Anderson at a corner.