Ståle Solbakken, the head coach of Norway, expressed his discontent regarding a pivotal moment in the World Cup quarter-final against England, where he believes the ball struck an overhead cable prior to Jude Bellingham’s equalizing goal.
Video replays seemed to indicate that a goal-kick from Norway hit a cable during the lead-up, yet FIFA stated that data from a sensor in the ball showed no evidence of contact with the cable.
After the match, which Norway lost 2-1 in extra time, Solbakken confronted the referee Clément Turpin on the pitch, highlighting that if the cable had indeed been struck, the game should have resumed with a drop ball.
“He said that he didn’t see it himself and that he didn’t get any message that it actually happened,” Solbakken remarked. “Since Fifa says that there was no touch, he can’t do anything about it. But the ball fell down straight in front of the bench, so it did. Everyone saw what happened. I think it’s pretty clear that it did. it was a strange thing. “I can sit here and cry but I don’t want to do that. We have done everything we could – the players have been phenomenal throughout the tournament. OK it was bizarre but it’s part of football and why it is the best sport in the world because things like that can happen. We have to accept it. “It was unlucky for us. The ball fell straight down from the sky, so it takes this direction. It became a misunderstanding among our players, and it was a bad moment for us. We can’t do anything about that. I don’t think we will play the game again, so that’s how it is.”
Solbakken continued, acknowledging his team’s efforts throughout the tournament despite the unusual circumstances. “Before England’s goal… the sensor in the Connected Ball showed no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball.”
The coach further explained, “I heard that, but there’s a chip in the ball and it can tell you if a hair can touch it, as you know from the Croatia-Portugal game.”
The cables in question are utilized to support a robotically controlled camera. In response to the incident, FIFA declared, “Before England’s goal… the sensor in the Connected Ball showed no peak in the ‘heartbeat of the ball’ when in the air, and therefore no evidence that the ball touched the overhead wire and changed the movement of the ball.”
On the other side, England’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, acknowledged awareness of the claims regarding the cable. “I heard that, but there’s a chip in the ball and it can tell you if a hair can touch it, as you know from the Croatia-Portugal game,” he said, referencing a controversial moment when a late equalizer for Croatia was disallowed due to an offside after the ball grazed a teammate’s hair.
