England-Norway World Cup match controversy over referee Clement Turpin's decisions

During the World Cup group match between England and Norway, Norway opened the scoring early through Andreas Schjelderup, but England equalised shortly before halftime. The match became contentious when a ball appeared to strike a suspended camera cable, altering its trajectory before England's Jude Bellingham scored. Former referee Clement Turpin did not intervene, stating he had not seen any contact, and VAR did not order a review, citing protocol.

FIFA later released sensor data from the ball, indicating no measurable impact from the cable. Former Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski publicly criticised Turpin, claiming the referee’s decisions, including a disallowed Norwegian goal, unfairly influenced the result. He also highlighted a separate incident involving a red card for Embolo in the Argentina‑Switzerland game. The debate centers on whether VAR should have acted despite the lack of explicit protocol for such incidents.