Good morning and welcome to Daily Mail Sport’s World Cup Breakfast on day 32 of the tournament — your essential round-up of everything you may have missed overnight in North America.
From the latest headlines and standout viral moments to the key storylines ahead, we’ll keep you across it all right here.
OVERNIGHT ACTION
Norway 1-2 England aet
In case it passed you by, England are heading to the World Cup semi-finals, where a blockbuster meeting with Argentina awaits. But they were pushed all the way before booking their place.
Jude Bellingham once again delivered when it mattered most, producing a superb display and scoring twice in a match England could easily have seen slip away.
Norway stunned England in the first half when Andreas Schjelderup struck against the run of play, finding the top corner with an effort that appeared to have been intended as a cross.
Bellingham dragged England level just before half-time, and Norway were then denied a second soon after the restart when a goal was ruled out for a foul by Erling Haaland.
The contest moved into extra time, but Bellingham needed only three minutes to score the decisive goal. England then held firm, helped in large part by another immense defensive performance from Dan Burn.
The main controversy that has emerged is whether the ball hit one of the spidercam wires before Bellingham’s opening goal. Norway’s goal kick appeared to strike the technology, but FIFA deny that that was the case. If it did, the goal shouldn’t have stood.
Meanwhile, Thomas Tuchel branded his England team ‘lucky’ and said they ‘made life difficult’ – only for Bellingham to hit back and say: ‘Maybe he (Tuchel) doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, Odegaard, Nusa, Sorloth.’
Read Oliver Holt’s match story HERE.
Jude Bellingham struck twice as England beat Norway 2-1 after extra-time in Miami
Argentina 3-1 Switzerland aet
Argentina were forced to go the distance by a valiant 10-man Switzerland but proved they have quality in abundance beyond Lionel Messi.
The South Americans will play England in the semi-finals on Wednesday evening after two goals in the second half of extra-time.
Alexis Mac Allister had given Argentina an early lead with a header but Switzerland’s Dan Ndoye levelled in the 67th minute. Their striker, Breel Donald Embolo, then got himself sent off with a second booking due to simulation.
Just when it looked like penalties might be on the cards, Julian Alvarez produced a stunning strike from outside the area in the 112th minute, before Lautaro Martinez wrapped up the game after a counter-attack in the 121st.
Argentina have won all their knockout games the hard way. They beat Cape Verde after extra-time, needed a late three-goal turnaround against Egypt, and had to play another 120 minutes against Switzerland. Who can stop them? Will they run out of steam?
Read Daniel Matthews’ match story HERE.
Argentina needed extra-time yet again but eventually dispatched Switzerland 3-1
VIEW FROM THE GROUND
Images of a quintessential Englishman like King Harry Kane were perhaps never going to be likely at School Street, Boston, where I found this one of Erling Haaland promoting Swiss wrist watches. It’s a mere four-minute walk from here to the scene of the Boston Massacre, where King George III’s English troops opened fire on US colonists in March 1770.
But it’s not by chance that Haaland currently seems more ubiquitous at such spots than perhaps any other player bar the US stars and Lionel Messi. He, even more than Messi, Lamine Yamal or Kylian Mbappe, has captured this country’s imagination and it’s about a lot more than his football. America seems to love the way he’s talked about them, particularly the viral interview clip in which he said he found Americans ‘kind of hilarious,’ ‘funny, and that he likes the way they are.
During the quarter-final build-up here last night, Fox Sports pointed out that Haaland’s Instagram following has risen from 40 million to 62 million at this World Cup. Yet before the World Cup, many Americans wouldn’t even have been able to identify him. A superstar for the late 2020s, who shapes his own profile in ways that the rest of the tournament’s small, elite superstar group do not.
Ian Herbert
TEAM OF THE DAY
Thanks as always to Sofascore for the graphic.
CELEBRITY WATCH
Take your pick, there was a plethora of celebrities on show during England’s 2-1 win over Norway.
You had former Three Lions stars such as David Beckham, John Terry and Ashley Cole there alongside World Cup winners such as Cafu, Kaka, Gilberto Silva and Alessandro Del Piero.
Then you had the likes of music legend Mick Jagger and TV presenter Maya Jama also there.
At Argentina’s 3-1 extra-time win over Switzerland in Kansas City, NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes – of the Kansas City Chiefs – was in attendance with an Argentina shirt.
David Beckham (right) celebrates after Jude Bellingham scored England’s second goal
World Cup winners Cafu (left), Kaka and Alessandro Del Piero pose for a photo in Miami
Music royalty Mick Jagger (left) was among those cheering on England inside Miami Stadium
TV presenter Maya Jama (right) was another lending her support to the Three Lions
NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes was supporting Argentina in the Kansas City quarter-final
VIRAL MOMENT OF THE DAY
Jude Bellingham and Haaland’s friendship is well-documented from their time at Borussia Dortmund and even though they were rivals on Saturday, they still found time to share a laugh on the pitch.
As Haaland awaited to attack a Norway free-kick, Bellingham tried a novel way into distracting him by appearing to tickle or pinch his backside. The pair saw the funny side as they both burst out into hysterics.
PICTURE OF THE DAY
Staying in Miami it has to be the full-time scenes as the victorious England squad and fans celebrate with one another by singing Oasis’ classic Wonderwall.
Could it be coming home? I said maybe…
England players and fans unite and sing Oasis’ hit Wonderwall after beating Norway
STAT OF THE DAY
Aged 23 years and 12 days (as of Saturday), Bellingham is the second-youngest player to score two or more goals in successive FIFA World Cup knockout stage games behind only Brazilian icon Pele in 1958 (17 years and 249 days).
Oh and to further underline, Bellingham’s brilliance only Mbappe (12) has scored more World Cup goals than him at the age of 23 or younger. Bellingham now has seven, the same tally Pele achieved at that age too.
Only Kylian Mbappe has scored more World Cup goals aged 23 or younger than Bellingham
THREE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR TODAY
1) No football!
I’m sorry to say we’ve now got two days – two whole days! – without a ball being kicked.
The semi-finals only get underway at 8pm UK time on Tuesday when France play Spain, then England face Argentina on Wednesday at the same time.
If you’re still after a sporting fix, you can watch the Wimbledon men’s singles final from 4pm as Jannik Sinner meets Alexander Zverev.
The latter will be hoping to build on his French Open crown from a few weeks ago, which was his first Grand Slam title.
2) England to clock up more air miles?
England need to get to Atlanta ahead of their semi-final. Mercifully, it should only be a couple of hours in the air from Miami.
I’m not privy to their flight schedule, but you imagine they’ll want to get in the air sooner rather than later just to get settled in.
The Three Lions will be hoping for a better performance than last time in Atlanta, when they only just scraped past DR Congo in the last 32. That already feels ages ago.
3) Expect a bitter fall-out
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a toxic reaction throughout the day from Norway’s media and supporters.
The main contention will be over Jude Bellingham’s opening goal. It came after the ball appeared to hit a camera cable, dropping out of the sky, but it’s not something everyone will have noticed down the pub.
FIFA have disputed that the ball touched the overhead wire, but it certainly looked unusual, and if it did, the referee should have awarded a dropped ball to Norway.
You can understand if they go ballistic about it today.
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