‘Foolishness!’ – Ian Wright and Roy Keane hit back at ‘sour grapes’ from Erling Haaland’s dad after England win

Ian Wright and Roy Keane have hit back after Erling Haaland’s father, Alfie, sarcastically congratulated referee Clement Turpin following England dramatic World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway.

Norway drew first blood in a tense but absorbing contest as Andreas Schjelderup beat Jordan Pickford from the tightest of angles to open the scoring in the 36th minute at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

But England found an equaliser on the stroke of half-time through an inspired Jude Bellingham, who fired a composed left-footed finish beyond Orjan Nyland to cue rapturous celebrations amongst the Three Lions’ travelling support.

There was a huge moment of contention after the restart as Torbjorn Heggem appeared to restore Norway’s advantage with an emphatic close-range effort from a corner, only for the goal to be disallowed for a shove on Elliot Anderson from Haaland in the build-up.

The Manchester City striker looked apoplectic as referee Turpin confirmed his decision, before Bellingham saved England again with 93rd-minute strike on the rebound to send Thomas Tuchel’s men through to the semi-finals.

England will do battle with Argentina for a place in this year’s final after Lionel Messi and Co advanced through courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in Kansas.

Haaland’s dad, Alfie, was an ever-present figure in the stands throughout Norway’s unforgettable campaign and was once again pictured going through all the emotions on Saturday night.

Shortly after the game, he wrote on X, ‘Well done Bellingham and referee,’ in response to Fabrizio Romano’s tweet about the game.

Five hours later and it was clear Haaland snr was still not over the result, with the 53-year-old suggesting Norway had been ‘robbed’ of a place in the semi-finals.

‘Really? Saved by the referee,’ he said in response to Henry Winter’s tweet praising England match-winner Bellingham.

‘Hope you win the WC now. But feel we got robbed today.’

Reacting to Alfie Haaland’s remarks on Stick to Football, ex-England and Arsenal striker Wright was less than sympathetic, insisting Norway only had themselves to blame after a series of big ‘mistakes’.

‘Is that sour grapes from Alf-Inge Haaland, saying well done to Bellingham and the referee?’ he asked.

‘I think that was just a bit of a low blow from him.’

On Heggem’s disallowed goal, Wright continued: ‘He can’t surely be referring to that because that was just a ridiculous push [from Haaland].

‘In that particular moment, he’s like six or seven inches taller, why does he need to be that aggressive with him?

‘It’s a massive foul. You can’t be talking that.’

Shortly after the final whistle, an official statement from FIFA stressed that there was ‘no evidence’ to back up Norway’s claims that one of the Spidercam wires had been struck by the ball in the build-up to Bellingham’s equaliser.

‘If they’re the governing body and they’re saying that’s it,’ Wright responded.

‘I’m not saying that FIFA are holier than thou, but if there’s not enough in it for them to overturn it, what we gonna do here.

‘If their goalkeeper had an unbelievable game, a blinder, this and that, doesn’t make that mistake… if [Alexander] Sorloth squares it, they’re 2-0 up before half-time, you’re not saying none of this!

‘They lost this game because they made mistakes in that game. It’s not because of the referee, the ball hitting the wire or whatever else they’re saying. Foolishness!’

Roy Keane felt Norway had a right to feel slightly aggrieved as a result of the officiating on show in Miami.

However, the former Manchester United captain suggested Haaland snr let emotions get the better of him with his reaction on social media.

‘I think the referee was giving England a lot of calls, 50-50s. I’m not talking about the major ones,’ Keane said.

‘He seemed to be just on the side of England which can happen in a game.

‘I’m not sitting here going, “He’s cost Norway”, absolutely not. But there was calls when you’re going… it could have gone the other way.’

Erling Haaland the last Norwegian player to leave the stadium. Stayed behind until 9:30 PM local time to take photos with family and other fans. He became one of the most beloved players in the sport by Americans during this tournament. #worldcup2026 pic.twitter.com/owt0MTIjDX

— Josh Moser (@TheMozKnowz) July 12, 2026

He later joked: ‘Will he remember the game? Because he always seems to be drinking alcohol at the matches, the dad.

‘No, he does! If you’re having a drink then you’re seeing the game differently.

‘Listen, I’ll always be trying to go the other way [against England] a little bit, if it’s 50-50, but the push is a push and then he heads it, so there you go.

‘Families and fans after games, we saw the interviews with the England manager, Bellingham, family members, they’re all a bit emotional so you try and give them the benefit of the doubt.

‘But when people wake up tomorrow morning, you won’t be sitting there going, “The referee’s cost us”, you can’t.

‘You can argue a couple of decisions but you can’t say, “He’s cost us”, no.’

Former England and Manchester United defender Gary Neville echoed Keane’s comments, adding: ‘No, I didn’t think it was a game where, as an England fan, that I thought we were lucky because of the referee.

‘I thought against Ghana we were lucky, when Ezri Konsa’s penalty wasn’t given, and that’s when you are lucky, when you think you’ve got away with one.’

Wright singled out Marc Guehi for special praise, applauding the defender for unsettling Haaland and refused to get ‘bullied’ by his Manchester City team-mate.

‘If one of the Ghanaian’s dads, if that fella’s [tackled by Konsa] dad said well done to Bellingham and the referee, I would have said, “You can’t argue with that!”‘ he said.

‘He [Haaland] must be carrying something. But you know what happens sometimes when you’re playing against a team-mate? Things happen sometimes when you totally dominate them or it goes the other way.

‘And I thought that Marc Guehi, in every type of interaction, I thought he was amongst him, he didn’t get bullied off it, he fought for it.’

Haaland appeared frustrated as he was substituted for Jorgen Strand Larsen in the closing stages, bringing an end to an exceptional debut World Cup for the centre-forward, in which he finished with seven goals to his name.

According to Keane, Haaland was let down by a lack of ‘service’ and Norway were ultimately beaten by a team with a ‘bit more quality’.

‘I wouldn’t say he had a bad game!’ he said of Haaland’s performance.

‘Before the game, we were saying about how he scores every 14 touches, so the fact is in general play…

‘And also, for the other lads playing against him, obviously it depends on a bit of service.

‘You look at games, you get to a quarter-final and they’ve done brilliant… you’ve ran your race, they’ve just ran their race.

‘You just couldn’t imagine Norway in the semi-finals, could you? And England have one or two players with a bit more quality than Norway.’

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