Who played with whom?. Norway – England 1: 2 In extra time, Bellingham scored twice (for the second match in a row!), Haaland did not score (and broke his two-year scoring streak in championship matches for the national team). Argentina – Switzerland 3: 1: To win a match in which the Argentines were favorites, they again needed extra time. Messi did not score for the first time in this tournament, but he provided an assist.
A separate fact from the fans. In the semi-finals of the World Cup, we will literally see the best fighting against the best: for the first time in history, four teams have reached this stage occupying the top four places in the FIFA teams: France in first place, Argentina in second place, Spain in third place, and England in fourth place. These same four teams (in a slightly different order) were considered the main contenders for victory by bookmakers and betting exchanges even before the tournament began.
What are they talking about?. We really wanted to tell you here A story about a Norwegian fanwho, in principle, is not involved in everyone’s favorite blasphemy, because it is “historically inaccurate”, but unfortunately, we will have to talk about the refereeing scandal again. Technology is at work again: not VAR, but a spider camera suspended above the pitch. In the England-Norway match, a ball kicked high by the goalkeeper hit the cable of this camera. Officially, the referee was supposed to call a dropped ball, but he did not see it and did not whistle – and immediately afterwards Bellingham scored.
Frame-by-frame playback analyses Show clearly: The ball changed its path due to the collision and hit the English player, who then launched a recorded attack. FIFA confirms (does anyone else take her word seriously?) that the sensors never detected that the ball touched the cable. There too A third point of view: VAR and referees should not literally review every episode under a magnifying glass when the ball touches something very conditionally. Yes, tell that to the Croats.
Picture of the day.
Swiss national team fans watch the match with Argentina in Lausanne.
Next in the program. Sunday and Monday are rest days. France and Spain will play on Tuesday evening, and Argentina and England on Wednesday.