England narrowly avoid goal being disallowed vs Norway over freak moment that TV cameras missed

Jude Bellingham's goal for England against Norway was inches away from being disallowed over a freak moment in the build-up.

Bellingham equalised for the Three Lions on the cusp of half-time after Andreas Schjelderup had put Norway in front.

Elliot Anderson received the ball from Norway's goal kick before it found its way to Anthony Gordon, who produced a superb pass for Bellingham to run through on goal.

The Real Madrid midfielder slotted the ball past Orjan Nyland and into the back of the net to make it 1-1.

But footage captured by FOX Sports appears to suggest England were not far away from seeing Bellingham's goal ruled out.

From Nyland's goal kick, the ball appears to clip an overhead camera cable while in the air, deflecting it down and into Anderson's path.

The clip, posted to FOX Sports' Twitter (X) account, is geolocked to American users but was reposted by journalist Melissa Reddy.

You can see the incident below:

For the benefit of those who haven’t seen the review of the ball hitting the camera cable before England’s equaliser on Fox Sports… pic.twitter.com/TQks5POkLe

— Melissa Reddy (@MelissaReddy_) July 11, 2026

According to former referee Mark Clattenburg, who is working for FOX during the World Cup, a dead ball should be declared if the ball strikes outside apparatus during play.

Clattenburg said on Fox: “VAR can interfere if that contact of the ball on the camera cable is part of a reviewable incident.

"An attacking phase of play leading to a goal is part of the var reviewable incident.

"It should have been picked up by the VAR.”

But that would have required an on-pitch official or VAR to have spotted the deflection and to then call a drop ball.

There is no concrete evidence that the ball did indeed strike the cable, however.

Had the officials deemed that the ball had struck the cable, the move that led to England's equaliser would not have been allowed to develop beyond Anderson's control.

Or alternatively, VAR could have made a decision themselves.

But FIFA have sensors on the ball which can track the exact direction of travel and whether there have been any small touches.

And FIFA claim they have 'checked the data and no peak on the graph from the connected ball heartbeat sensor', suggesting the cable was not struck by the match ball.

Norway players and manager Stale Solbakken were left less than happy with the officials, though, and Solbakken was locked in deep discussion with the match referee heading into the half-time interval.

Erling Haaland was also gesturing to the referee that the goal-kick had collided with the camera.