Erling Haaland’s father, Alfie, appears to have hit out at the refereeing during Norway’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to England.
Norway, seeking to reach a World Cup final for the first time ever, took the lead at the Miami Stadium nine minutes before half-time when Andreas Schjelderup’s cross-shot flew into the net off the post.
However, hopes of an historic last-four showdown against either Argentina or Switzerland in Atlanta next week were dashed by Jude Bellingham’s brace.
The England midfielder equalised in first half stoppage time and then scored what proved to be the winning goal in the first period of extra-time, pouncing on an Orjan Nyland mistake to send Thomas Tuchel’s side through.
Taking to social media after the game, in response to a post praising Bellingham, Haaland senior aimed a not so subtle dig at referee Clement Turpin.
“Well done Bellingham and referee,” he wrote.
Well done Bellingham and referee.
— Alfie Haaland (@alfiehaaland) July 11, 2026
Haaland senior is most likely referring to a couple of decisions that went against Norway on Saturday night.
The first was the build up to Bellingham's first goal with the ball appearing to clip a cable that one of the overhead televisions cameras was connected to, before landing back down on the turf and falling in English possession.
In a statement, FIFA said that it had "checked the data and no peak on the graph from the connected ball heartbeat sensor", meaning that the Three Lions’ equaliser correctly stood.
The other contentious moment was when Torbjorn Heggem scored on 55 minutes to put Norway ahead for a second time - only for VAR to intervene as disallow the goal with Haaland’s son adjudged to have pushed Elliot Anderson before Martin Odegaard had swung the corner in.
