Cote: Hey, Jude! Bellingham has England nearer 1st World Cup win since ‘66 | Opinion
The night before Saturday’s World Cup quarterfinal match in Miami, along Ocean Drive in nearby Miami Beach, hundreds of reveling and daresay imbibing England soccer fans had been serenading the Atlantic Ocean to the Beatles’ Hey Jude late into the night. Call it a coincidence -- or a tribute and celebration, one night early, for English midfielder Jude Bellingham.
Veteran Harry Kane may be the Brits’ biggest star, but Bellingham was Saturday with both goals in the 2-1 overtime victory over Norway that sends England into the semifinals in search of its first World Cup championship since 1966 -- two years before Hey Jude was all over the radio.
And Norway, after its deepest World Cup run ever, heads home one win shy of its first semifinal.
England will face the winner of Saturday’s late Argentina-Switzerland game in the second semifinal match on Wednesday in Atlanta. The first semi will see France vs. Spain on Tuesday in Dallas.
“I love it. It never gets old,” said Bellingham of his song. “Always sounds good.”
Of his team’s victory, “It was a really well, complete game of football,” Bellingham said. And, of his own two-goal night: “It was not beyond my wildest dreams.”
Miami’s quarterfinal Saturday night hadn’t begun yet but Hard Rock Stadium was full, and rocking. England fans were in white and outnumbered Norway fans in red -- none of them sitting, all singing along full-throated to Sweet Caroline. “So good, so good, so good!” In a tunnel as both teams prepared to take the pitch for the pomp of the two national anthems, out of view of the crowd, Norwegian star Erling Haaland was hugging or dapping his opponents.
Sometimes, sports makes you feel good wholly apart from the game itself.
This was one of those times as Miami hosted the biggest, most important of the seven World Cup soccer matches South Florida was gifted -- the jewel. There will be one more here, the third-place consolation game on July 18 that FIFA props it up as the ”bronze final.” But that is the game no player on any of the four semifinalist teams wants any part of. At this point, consolation is the enemy of championship dreams.
Saturday’s match was missing the loud Latin passion and party atmosphere that South American teams’ fans would have brought; the near-constant singing and chanting to a steady pounding drumbeat.
Saturday wasn’t missing the drama or tension, though. The stakes were as big as the stage.
England is now a massive step closer to its second World Cup title and first since distant 1966, when music’s British Invasion was full force in the States and the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger -- at Saturday’s game at age 82 -- was just getting started.
Underdog Norway led 1-0 in the 36th minute after England star Kane was “dispossessed,” football-talk having the ball stolen. His team did not react fast enough on defense, and soon after Andreas Schjelderup sent a left-footed shot from left of the box to the top right corner and in off the right post. It looked like an intended crossing pass that decided it would rather be a goal. No matter. And no Haaland needed on this one. The fans in red erupted.
More noise two minutes into extra time late in the first half as England’s Bellingham tied it 1-1, skimming a left-footer from the left side into the bottom right of the net, expertly finishing a counter-attack fast break that found the Norwegian defense lacking.
Each team then saw subsequent goals waved off, an English score erased by offside even later in the first half extra-time, and a would-be Norway goal in the 55th minute failing to surviving a VAR video review that showed an English defender being pushed down.
The next goal that counted was Bellingham’s in the 93rd minute, a right-footer from the center of the box to the left corner off a deflection. It stood as the winner.
The Norwegians’ dramatic “Viking Row” chant inspired no miracle.
The three biggest nations in men’s World Cup history were watching, not playing, in the 2026 quarterfinals. All-time champion Brazil (five titles) and four-time winner Germany were out early after disappointing tournaments. Italy (four wins) stunningly did not even qualify for the record 48-team field.
And yet the cream rose, the stars shone, and somehow we would still see four big quarterfinal matchups -- each with a former World Cup champion facing a nation striving to win its first. And now two heavyweight semifinals loom.
An Argentina victory would make this only the third time in 23 men’s World Cups that the final-four semifinalists all had previously won a championship. It has only happened before in 1970 and in 1990.
Soccer wins again.
There had been consternation in the buildup to this World Cup hosted by the United States (mostly), Canada and Mexico. Would the U.S. government’s anti-immigration policies have a chilling effect on foreign visitors? Exorbitant ticket costs caused an outcry, too. Yet stadiums were full and buoyant, with fans’ passion as much a part of it all as the teams.
Soccer wins again.
FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association. FIFA does not always stand for integrity. Scandal pocks the governing body’s history. A new chapter of that wrote itself in this edition of the quadrennial event when FIFA president Gianni Infantino bowed to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and lifted the red card to allow American star Folarin Balogun to play in a knockout game the U.S. would then somehow fittingly lose. It was an unseemly mess.
Yet, somehow, soccer wins again.
Whatever ailed this World Cup, the beautiful game was waiting with its healing powers.
An unexpected thrilling run by tiny Cape Verde. A spectacular save. Whole sections of Norway fans’ “Viking Row” chants. And the greatest Golden Boot chase in World Cup history as greats Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Haaland and Kane rose like giants.
Saturday as it happened, the two biggest stars, Haaland and Kane, each had a quiet game. Haaland was subbed out late after only two shots and one on goal. Kane also was off the scoresheet.
One team survived the night of little impact by its superstar. The other could not.
Afterward, celebrating English fans sang their customary victory song, Oasis’ Wonderwall. Then they sang the night’s biggest hit, Hey, Jude, of course.
The triumphant players watched from the field, listening. Jude Bellingham raised his arms and applauded, smiling all the while.
This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 7:56 PM.
