Norway Boss Ståle Solbakken Explains What Really Happened at Half-Time and Delivers Scathing Verdict on Referee’s Performance After England Defeat

Norway manager Ståle Solbakken offered a candid and damning assessment of his side’s heartbreaking 2-1 extra-time defeat to England on Saturday night, lifting the lid on a furious half-time exchange with match officials and delivering a scathing verdict on what he described as an “unacceptable” refereeing performance.

The 58-year-old, speaking with controlled anger in the post-match press conference, detailed exactly what transpired in the tunnel after the first-half whistle and made it clear his frustration was not born of sour grapes, but of what he believes was a clear and obvious error that his players could not recover from.

With Norway leading 1-0 courtesy of Erling Haaland’s predatory finish, the Scandinavians were cruising towards a historic semi-final berth. But deep into first-half stoppage time, chaos erupted. A routine Norwegian goal-kick struck an overhead camera cable suspended above the pitch  a fact immediately clear to players, coaches, and the 65,000 fans inside the Hard Rock Stadium. Play continued, however, and Jude Bellingham bundled the ball home to level the scores.

The referee was French official Clément Turpin, a highly experienced FIFA-listed referee since 2010 who has officiated at three World Cups and took charge of the 2022 Champions League final. Turpin has a controversial history with England manager Thomas Tuchel, who famously gave the Frenchman a “Grade E” rating and called his performance “absolutely terrible” after a Champions League clash in 2023.

Solbakken revealed that he stormed down the tunnel at the interval, not to confront Turpin directly, but to demand an explanation from the fourth official and VAR representatives.

“I walked straight to the tunnel. I made it very clear to the fourth official that they had made a catastrophic error,” Solbakken explained. “I said: ‘You have the footage. You have the angles. You have the technology. How can you possibly let that stand?’ The answer I got was not satisfactory. They simply said the ball sensor showed no contact. I told them: ‘I don’t care what a sensor says my eyes work perfectly fine.'”

The Norwegian boss admitted that the half-time atmosphere inside the dressing room was one of disbelief and deflation.

“The players were furious not angry in an aggressive way, just devastated. They had executed the game plan perfectly. And then they walked off knowing they had been denied a legitimate lead. I tried to lift them, but I could see it in their eyes the damage was already

Scathing Verdict on Turpin’s Performance

Solbakken was careful not to launch personal attacks, but his verdict on Turpin’s overall officiating was withering.

“I am not questioning the referee’s integrity. But I am questioning his competence and I am questioning the entire VAR protocol,” he said, his tone measured but firm. “When every single person in the stadium can see the ball hits the cable, and the only thing that tells you otherwise is a graph on a screen then the system is broken. You cannot prioritize data over reality.”

But it was what happened next that truly incensed the Norwegian boss. Solbakken confirmed that an unnamed English player left his own dressing room and walked towards the Norway camp in an attempt to confront one of his players.

“We were already furious about the decision. And then, in the middle of that chaos, an English player comes walking towards our dressing room looking for one of our players,” Solbakken said, visibly still angry. “That is completely out of order. You do not do that. You stay in your own space. You deal with your own business. You do not come looking for confrontation in another team’s dressing room area.”

The manager did not name the player involved but made it clear that he viewed the act as provocative and unacceptable.

“My staff had to step in. We told him to go back to his own dressing room. This is a football match – not a boxing ring. If one of my players had done that, I would have been furious with him. I would have demanded an apology immediately,” he added.

Solbakken also suggested that the incident reflected the tense, high-stakes environment that had been building throughout the first half.

“The tension was already unbearable. The decision had already enraged my players. And then someone tries to escalate it further? That is not sportsmanship. That is not what this tournament should be about.”

He continued: “There were fouls missed, yellow cards that should have been given. I can accept those  they happen in every match. What I cannot accept is a decision that fundamentally changes a knockout tie based on technology that clearly failed.”

Beyond the officiating storm, Solbakken addressed the broader environment that made the defeat even more painful. He revealed that the oppressive Miami humidity, combined with the emotional toll of the equalizer, left his players physically and mentally spent.

“The tension was unbearable. Every tackle, every decision felt like it carried the weight of our entire campaign. My players emptied their reserves. And when you give that much, and then lose it on a call that should never have happened  it breaks you.”

The manager confirmed that Haaland was withdrawn at the start of extra time because he had “nothing left to give.”

“Erling is the fittest player I have ever coached. But even he has limits. The heat drained him. The frustration drained him. I should have taken him off ten minutes earlier  that is on me.”

Captain Martin Ødegaard echoed his manager’s frustration.

“We knew we had been wronged. Every single player knew it. And when you know that, it is almost impossible to reset your mind,” the Arsenal playmaker said. “The equalizer took something from us that we never got back. It was not just a goal  it was a momentum shift we did not deserve.”

England now progress to a blockbuster semi-final showdown with defending champions Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday. For Norway, however, the pain of what might have been will linger.

“I told the players: ‘I am proud of you. Prouder than I have ever been. You did not lose this game. The circumstances lost it for you,'” Solbakken said. “But that does not make it any easier to accept. And it does not make me any less angry.”