Ibra and Haaland Sr. furious: "Well done Bellingham and referee"

A major storm has erupted at the World Cup following the quarter-final clash in which England eliminated Norway with a 2-1 victory. The main talking point across global media has become Jude Bellingham's equalizing goal late in the first half, which many claim should have been disallowed, sparking furious reactions from football legends.

The cam of God: Did the Spidercam cable help England score?

The legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic was brutal in his assessment of the situation. The controversial moment occurred just before Harry Kane initiated the buildup to the goal—replays from American broadcaster FOX Sports suggested that after a long clearance by Norwegian goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, the ball hit the sky-camera cable in mid-air and altered its trajectory.

Ibrahimovic stated that he did not care whether it was the first or the 90th minute because rules are rules, and if the ball hits a camera cable, it constitutes outside interference, meaning the referee should have stopped play immediately.

He added that while Bellingham's finish was good, the attack should never have been allowed to continue under the regulations. The Swedish icon believes England is being given a pass due to their stature, pointing out that absolute chaos would have erupted had Norway scored an identical goal, as players cannot be asked to respect rules that are simply ignored when convenient.

This view on halting play was backed by former English referee Mark Clattenburg, who noted that if contact with the cable had occurred, play would have to be stopped, automatically invalidating the subsequent goal.

The anger within the Norwegian camp was also openly expressed by Alf-Inge Haaland, father of Norway's star striker Erling Haaland. The former Manchester City player pointed the finger of blame directly at the match official, French referee Clement Turpin.

Following the match, Haaland senior took to the social media platform X to post a brief and highly sarcastic message: "Well done Bellingham and referee." This reaction was triggered not only by the decision surrounding Bellingham's goal but also by the fact that Norway had a goal of their own disallowed shortly afterward.

However, while the Norwegians and the public raged, FIFA quickly put an end to the conspiracy theories. As reported by the British newspaper The Times, football's governing body immediately extracted data from the microchip embedded inside the official World Cup match ball following the game. This high-tech sensor registers even the slightest contact on the ball's surface, and a detailed analysis of the graphics proved that no contact with the camera cable took place. Despite the heavy criticism, England has advanced to the semi-finals, where they will face Argentina.