A brace from Jude Bellingham in the oppressive heat in Miami was enough to get England over the line against Norway in a 2-1 win after extra time and book a place in the World Cup semifinals.
England had looked set for a frustrating night after Andreas Schjelderup gave Norway an early lead, his mishit cross looping over Jordan Pickford after Harry Kane was dispossessed in midfield. The Three Lions were fortunate not to fall further behind too, with Alexander Sørloth hesitating on a two-on-one break instead of releasing Erling Haaland, allowing England to escape.
Norway were punished just before the break. Anthony Gordon drove in from the left before cutting the ball back for Bellingham, who shifted onto his right foot to create space and fired low beyond Ørjan Nyland to restore parity in stoppage time.
The second half became a battle of endurance in Florida humidity. Torbjørn Heggem thought he had restored Norway's advantage from a corner, only for Clément Turpin to penalise Haaland for a push on his new Manchester City teammate Elliot Anderson before the delivery. Chances were scarce thereafter as tired legs and soaring temperatures forced the contest into extra time.
It was Bellingham who proved decisive once again. Nyland could only spill Morgan Rogers' strike into his path, allowing the midfielder to turn home the winner. England still had work to do, surviving a late scare after Djed Spence's penalty appeal was overturned following a pitchside review, before Dan Burn was introduced to navigate the closing stages as the Three Lions reached their second semifinal in three editions.
Bellingham's brace moved him to six for the tournament, and set up a meeting with Argentina on July 15 for a place in the final.
Bellingham approaches England legend status
"Character, perseverance, even when things weren't working," Bellingham said to ITV, when asked what got the side over the line. "I was lucky to be there, to put it in," he added, on his winning goal.
That answer was far too humble, when the score-line by itself could have justified a curt response of 'I did.'
There was some controversy before his first-half equaliser, with the question asked of whether a Nyland goal kick struck a camera wire, causing it to unceremoniously drop from the sky as Anderson took over. FIFA have denied that there was any contact between ball and wire.
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Anderson played in Gordon, who in turn found Bellingham on the edge of the area. He still had plenty of work still to do -- but his first touch on his right was flawless, showing him into the area before his low effort found the bottom right corner to get England level.
His second was another testament to his box-crashing game intelligence. The 23-year-old started his run into the six-yard box as soon as Rogers fired from the edge of the area, and while Nyland should have done better, Bellingham was ahead of Kane and Eze to read the rebound and tap home -- preventing a potential nerve-shredding penalty shootout.
Tuchel displeased despite progression
This was England's sternest test at the tournament so far -- and one that left their manager far from pleased.
There were lengthy spells in Miami were the Three Lions looked second best, and Norway will be ruing missed opportunities to have furthered or restored their lead.
Sørloth's failure to play in Haaland on the counter-attack, having just gone ahead, will be no doubt on replay in his mind, while Heggem will be disappointed to have his second-half goal disallowed for Haaland's foul off the ball.
Ajer hit the post in the second half as Kane struggled to get involved, while Noni Madueke found himself taken off at half-time. Eberechi Eze struggled in the second half while Anthony Gordon's substitution allowed the Norwegian left flank to go largely untested in the second half.
"I never talked about suffering," Tuchel said to ITV. "We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. Result is fantastic, last four is amazing, but not happy with the performance.
"Again, the commitment is there, but ... Sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough -- we were lucky today."
If any Tuchel-branded luck extends over two more matches, England could well be world champions.
Team line-ups
Norway: Nyland; Ryerson (Aursnes 60'), Ajer, Heggem (Østigård 91'), Møller Wolfe (Pedersen 89'); Ødegaard, Berge, Berg; Sørloth (Bobb 67'), Schjelderup (Nusa 67'), Haaland (Strand Larsen 106').
Unused substitutes: Tangvik, Selvik, Falchener, Langås, Bjørkan, Thorsby, Hauge, Thorstvedt, Aasgaard.
Goals: Schjelderup 36'
England: Pickford; Konsa (Rogers 69'), Stones, Guéhi, O'Reilly (Spence 85'); Anderson, Rice (Eze 45'); Madueke (Saka 45'), Bellingham (Burn 111'), Gordon (James 67'); Kane.
Unused subtitutes: D. Henderson, Trafford, Chalobah, Mainoo, Rogers, Rashford, Watkins, Toney.
Goals: Bellingham 45+2', 93'
Snapshot from the match
Key match stats
- England: Reach their fourth World Cup semifinal and first since 2018 (lost to Croatia 2-1 in extra time.)
- Jude Bellingham becomes the first English player to score twice or more in multiple World Cup knockout matches at a single tournament.
- With seven in tournament history, the only player to have scored more before turning 24 is Kylian Mbappé (12). Bellingham is now tied with Pelé in that regard.
- Erling Haaland: 21 touches and two shots (one on target) in 105 minutes; was seeking to become the first European player to score in each of his first five World Cup appearances since Gerd Müller for West Germany in 1970.
- His streak of 14 consecutive competitive matches for Norway with a goal is now over.
- England have progressed in four of their last six knockout stage matches at the World Cup or Euros that have gone to extra time.