Judgement day at the World Cup (read: the Final) is almost upon us. In one set of the Quarterfinals, France defeated Morocco 2-0 and Spain narrowly beat Belgium 2-1 on their side of the bracket. That means the first Semifinal matchup will pit France vs. Spain in a repeat of the 2025 UEFA Nations League at the same stage of that tournament. The other set of Quarterfinals had Norway vs. England and Argentina vs. Switzerland.
The modern-day meeting of Vikings and Anglo-Saxons
Norway made waves for their impressive performances at the World Cup so far,
with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland leading the knockout round charge as the Vikings eliminated Ivory Coast and caused an upset by knocking out Brazil. The English meanwhile defeated DR Congo and produced a blockbuster showdown with Mexico at the Azteca, where the 1966 World Cup winners inflicted only the third competitive defeat for El Tri at that stadium with a 3-2 win.
England and Norway last faced each other in a football match back in 2014, which ended in a 1-0 win for the English thanks to a solitary goal from Wayne Rooney. When it came to competitive matches, the two were in the same group for the qualifying phase of the 1994 World Cup. In 1992 and 1993, England failed to beat Norway in the group, drawing 1-1 and losing 2-0 which ultimately cost them a place at that World Cup.
Fast forward to 2026, and the sides look much different than they were over 30 years ago. The match began and there was an air of caution between the two teams, as neither side could come up with a meaningful chance that could turn the tide. England got their first big chance in the 29th minute when Harry Kane presided over a free kick but could only blast the ball over the goal. Haaland would get an attempt five minutes later before Norway stole the ball in midfield from Kane, after which Martin Ødegaard played the ball wide to Andreas Schjelderup. The Benfica winger ran past Ezri Konsa on the right side of the English defence and simply blasted the ball at the far post that Jordan Pickford couldn’t get to.
Alexander Sørloth later had a shot saved by Pickford; the Atletico Madrid man rightfully shot there but he would later cost his team by doing the same thing later. In the 44th minute, Norway had Haaland and Sørloth forward. All Sørloth had to do was pass to Haaland and he would’ve scored. Except he didn’t, as the 30-year-old striker held onto the ball for too long which allowed England to get back. Sørloth ended up firing from an awkward angle which came off a defender and out of play. Haaland was bewildered that Sørloth didn’t pass to him, and the former Borussia Dortmund striker could only throw his hands up at the chance that wasn’t presented to him.
England would grab their equalizer just before the end of the first half when Anthony Gordon squared the ball centrally to Jude Bellingham, who skipped past three Norwegian defenders and squeezed the ball home past Ørjan Nyland. Controversy arose when the ball seemingly hit the overhead spider camera’s wires, but the officials chose not to intervene. Kane later thought he added a second when Bellingham played him and chipped Nyland, but the Bayern Munich man was in an offside position and therefore ruled the goal out.
Nine minutes after the start of the second half, Torbjørn Heggem managed to poke the ball home, but the goal was disallowed after Haaland pushed Elliot Anderson to the ground during the preceding corner kick. The rest of the half saw both sides push for the winning goal, but the closest either of them came to scoring was a scramble in the box for Norway and Norwegian player Frederik Aursnes taking advantage of Eberechi Eze being a split second too slow to a cross. Djed Spence later thought he did a Haaland by nicking the ball off the goalkeeper, in this case, Nyland, and force a goal, but nothing came from it.
Three minutes into the first period of extra time, Morgan Rogers fired a shot that Nyland parried straight into the path of Bellingham who slotted the rebound home to give England the lead for the first time in the match. In the 99th minute, England won a penalty after Spence was fouled by Oscar Bobb, but a three-minute check by referee Clement Turpin resulted in the original penalty call being overturned. Despite further chances from both Norway and England, the score remained at 2-1 until the end of 120 minutes.
While England celebrated their win to the tune of Oasis’ 1995 hit Wonderwall, Norway were left to “Wonderwhat” would’ve happened if their 1995-born striker had passed the ball to Haaland.
Pushed to the limit yet again
Argentina and Switzerland met for only the eighth time in history. Their last matchup was the Round of 16 at the 2014 World Cup, where a lone Ángel Di María goal three minutes from the end of extra time was enough to send La Albiceleste through to the next round. Additionally, Argentina had never lost to the Rossocrociati before, winning six and drawing twice.
A minute of silence was observed in honor of South African footballer Jayden Adams, who tragically passed away after representing his nation at this World Cup.
When the match began, Switzerland got the first chance of the match through Denis Zakaria’s off-target shot. Both teams then got a free kick each but couldn’t make them count, before Djibril Sow and Granit Xhaka missed for the Swiss while Alexis Mac Allister followed suit for Argentina.
The first goal of the game came from a Lionel Messi corner kick that Mac Allister jumped in between Sow and Breel Embolo to head the ball past Gregor Kobel. Both Argentina and Switzerland would get more free kicks, with the latter seeing another chance wasted by Sow; the score remained 1-0 to the holders. Remo Freuler tried his hand at yet another free kick and so did Fabian Rieder, both chances coming either side of halftime; neither could put it on target, however.
In the 51st minute, Julián Alvarez went for goal, but Zakaria was there to deflect the ball away from danger. The Swiss piled the pressure on for the next 15 minutes and were rewarded with a goal from Dan Ndoye in the 67th minute after being set up by Ricardo Rodriguez. Shortly thereafter, Embolo appeared to dive under pressure from Nicolas Tagliafico. The referee initially gave the Argentine left-back a yellow card but later gave it to Embolo after a review, which meant the Swiss striker had picked up his second yellow card and was sent for an early bath.
This gave Argentina the edge and they went forward pushing hard for a winner. Switzerland goalkeeper Gregor Kobel was put through his paces as he produced numerous saves in the final quarter of an hour, plus stoppage time. His saves included a chip from Messi and a scissor kick from center-back Lisandro Martínez. The Borussia Dortmund number 1 continued to keep his team in the game until he was finally beaten by a superbly struck top-corner goal from Alvarez. Just before the end of the 120 minutes, Argentina go on the break as the Swiss searched for an equalizer. Thiago Almada’s initial shot was blocked by Kobel, but Lautaro Martínez was there to squeeze the rebound in. Argentina was through thanks to a 3-1 win in Kansas City.
Tuesday sees the first Semifinal kick off in Arlington between France and Spain, while England and Argentina play the following day in Atlanta. The tournament started with 48 teams, and now four teams are left in the running and all of them are former World Cup winners. One hasn’t won since the 1960s, another hasn’t won in 16 years. The other two were involved in the past two World Cup finals, winning one each. In just over a week, we will either see a new winner of the World Cup or see something that hasn’t been done since Brazil in 1962.
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- New, improved notifications system!
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
