FIFA: No evidence of ball hitting an electric wire

FIFA said on Saturday that there is “no evidence” to support claims that England’s equalizer in their 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway in the World Cup quarterfinals in North America should have been disallowed, after it appeared the ball struck a camera cable during the buildup.

Norwegian players appealed to French referee Clement Turpin after Jude Bellingham’s goal in stoppage time, which came instead of a first-half opportunity that would have given Norway a 1-1 draw at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Broadcast footage of the goal kick taken by Norwegian goalkeeper Oystein Neeland, which initiated the play leading to Bellingham’s goal, showed the ball’s trajectory seemingly changing abruptly before dropping toward England midfielder Elliott Anderson.

According to the laws of the game, such an incident should have resulted in play being stopped and restarted with a dropped ball. However, FIFA clarified that a sensor embedded inside the ball—the same technology used to disallow a goal in Croatia’s earlier knockout-stage loss to Portugal—showed no indication that the ball had struck the cable.

The statement read: “Before England’s goal in the 45+2nd minute against Norway, the ball’s connected sensor showed no peak in (ball pulse) while the ball was in the air, and therefore there is no evidence that the ball touched the upper cable and changed its trajectory.”