Alfie Haaland, father of Norwegian star Erling Haaland, directed a scathing criticism wrapped in a sarcastic 'congratulation' to French referee Clément Turpin, after Norway was eliminated from the 2026 World Cup quarter-finals by England (2-1 after extra time), in a match that saw controversial refereeing decisions that tipped the scales in favor of the Three Lions, according to the former international player.

Despite congratulating Jude Bellingham, his son's former teammate at Borussia Dortmund, for his decisive brace, Haaland did not hesitate to aim his criticism at Turpin, considering that his controversial decisions decided the fate of the match in favor of England, in a clear indication of Norwegian discontent with the refereeing performance.

3 Controversial Incidents

Norway's first complaint concerned England's equalizing goal, where reports indicated that the ball touched a spider camera cable hanging from the stadium roof after a throw-in taken by goalkeeper Nyland, altering its path and resulting in Bellingham's first goal. Although FIFA later denied any contact based on smart chip data, the Vikings were not fully convinced.

Later in the match, Norway scored a second goal from a corner kick, but Turpin disallowed it after a controversial review via VAR, citing a foul on Haaland before the ball came into play, and ordered the corner to be retaken, a decision that sparked anger among Norwegian players.

A Missed Foul in Crucial Moments

Shortly after, a third incident occurred when the roles were reversed: the ball hit the crossbar, and as a Norwegian player prepared to head it, he fell to the ground after clear contact, but Turpin did not award a foul, and the VAR officials did not intervene to review the incident, sparking a wave of outrage in the Norwegian ranks.

After the match and Norway's elimination from the tournament, Alfie Haaland did not hesitate to send his sarcastic message while congratulating Bellingham, in a clear indication that the refereeing played a decisive role in determining the match result, amid widespread criticism of the refereeing performance in the 2026 World Cup, following similar incidents in other matches of the tournament.