FIFA found no evidence that the ball struck an overhead camera cable before the Bellingham equaliser in England’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final win over Norway.
Norway’s players protested to French referee Clément Turpin after Jude Bellingham scored in first-half stoppage time at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The disputed move began with goalkeeper Orjan Nyland’s goal-kick. Television footage appeared to show the ball changing direction before dropping into the path of England midfielder Elliot Anderson.
Under football’s laws, contact with an overhead wire would require the referee to stop play and restart with a dropped ball.
FIFA said the sensor embedded inside the Connected Ball registered no impact while the ball was in the air.
The governing body said there was no peak in the ball’s electronic impact data and therefore no evidence that it touched the cable or altered its movement.
FIFA used the same ball-tracking technology earlier in the 2026 World Cup to disallow a goal during Croatia’s knockout defeat to Portugal.
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England’s 2-1 victory secured a place in the World Cup semi-finals, while Norway’s challenge to the equaliser was rejected.
