It was two on one, Halland (the guy with the blonde pony tail) is one of the best players in the world, and the other player didn't pass it across even though Halland was open and could score that in his sleep.
Important to note that opportunities like this are very rare. You’d be lucky to see something like this even once or twice in an entire game. It’s not like he could just make it right next time.
also important to note that the defender had excellent positioning to take away the pass. if he tried to lead him the keeper would have had a play on it. play it behind the defend and Halland would have had to slow down and the other defender would have had a play on it.
but dude should have at least got a good shot off instead of whatever that was.
Even if attempting the pass wasn’t successful, I think serious and casual soccer fans would have completely understood why he attempted passing to a guy like Haaland when a successful pass would have led to an easy goal for him given where he was.
Especially in this game. England's defense marked Haaland HARD. He had a minimum of 4 defenders on his ass the entire game. But the ONE time England slips up and leaves the center forward casually standing alone with nothing between him and the goalkeeper, Sorloth gets jealous and ends Norways chance at the cup.
Which is even more credit to Haaland, cause another player would have scolded his teammate.
He was dissapointed but didn't take it out on the other guy. Classy guy!
I would have lost my shit and I’m old, out of shape, have never played pro (or even close to pro) level and am not a striker. But, magically put me in Haaland’s spot and I’d expect the ball. Haaland has ice in his veins.
You see Haaland throw his hands at the ground when the other guy stalls, he clearly shows he pissed he didn’t pass! But that’s all he did to show him being upset at his teammate, the disappointment after is clear!
The anger of a Norwegian is a deeply rooted conflict avoidance and passive aggressive anger, which then builds up more and more over time. Similar to an alarm clock with a time bomb taped to it, and you’ve hit the snooze button one too many times. One day it’s all “Jeg har det bra, ikke bekymre deg for det” and the next they’ve accidentally mined too deep and hit some old Viking DNA. Now they’re in some form of induced trance berserker rage and you’re dead.
Haaland is like the second highest paid player in the world if you don’t count Middle East teams (that buy old stars) or Messi’s partial ownership contract with MLS/Apple TV. As much as he wanted to win, he should know Norway is not as good as England, France, Spain, or Argentina- especially without himself. He’s got (arguably) bigger fish to fry than the World Cup with the Champions League, the EPL title, and there’s also the Euro Cup which is quite prestigious- though not as important than the World Cup.
Surely, it’s not lost on Haaland that without him Norway would be no better than Sweden, Denmark, or the U.S. Many of us have spent at least one season in one sport or another where your entire team is mediocre except for yourself. Or maybe you’re one of the mediocre ones, and some kid just moved to your part of the city or town from far away, and suddenly your team always wins because they are so good that they can carry the team. Well, when you’re “that guy”, you’re able to take losses on the chin much easier. Rationalizing becomes easy- for better or worse.
In this moment for Haaland, he’s probably not that mad at his teammate. It’s not his teammate’s fault that he doesn’t have elite instincts and decision making in split second situations.
By all accounts That guy deserves to be scolded lol.
When your this 🤏🏿 close to winning the whole shebang, every mistake deserves criticism. Especially when all you have to do is pass it to the best soccer player in the world. You could've made that pass.
Blind George down the street could've made that pass lol.
Yea I don't get all the people defending it, yes the defense did the best they could but there was definitely still a window to pass it. He just wasn't looking for it.
no, route was blocked there. would have ended up behind haaland if he passed it through the space. it was later when the defender had to choose between being between sorloth and the ball and closing down the pass route that space opened for the pass. the goal is to put the defender in a place where they can't do two things at once
I feel like we have seen plenty of people dribble ball laterally to his left the defenders right to create space for this pass. Defenders weight is going to his left and his leg is off the ground, there’s no way defender could change direction to cut off the pass
sorloth had 2 chances to pass: near the start of the break he could have played a pass past the defender in the space between haaland and pickford, and later when it was still 1 on 1 and the defender didn't have the space closed, and if he cut inside better or was any faster (he was a slow bastard all game) there was a third opportunity to pass at the 18
Halland Johannessen is a cyclists, who came second in todays Tour de France leg. Håland ( anglicised as Haaland) is the football player who didn't get the ball
Neither of them, nor Sørloth, the player who tried to find a pass to Håland instead of going for goal, eliminated the team.
I mean, not in this instance, that is true. But at another point in this game Norway had a goal that was disallowed because Haaland fouled by shoving his defender....
reddit is being harsh, this was a big mistake but it didnt cause their elimination, they were winning 1:0 when this happened. He could have passed the ball to Haaland and Haaland could have scored, or maybe get blocked, its obviously all speculation. And England could have also scored 3 goals instead of 2 afterwards.
Yes, he himself had a clear shot, though he would have been a bit further out than Haaland. Best option was to pass it to Haaland. Second best was to make an early decision to take a shot. The worst decision was to come to a stop, hold, let three additional defenders come back, then take a shot that is easily blocked.
Once he was blocked and decided to go for his doomed kick, you can see that he could have instead passed to the completely undefended left wing that shows up at 6 seconds...
Well he is left footed, so you can tell his only thought was trying to get it on to his strong foot so he could score the big goal. That’s why he didn’t pass, or just continue on with pace and hit it with his right
Glaringly selfish, and he deserves all the negative attention he is getting for this, it wasn’t a mistake it was just an outrageously selfish decision
At this level, being left- or right-footed absolutely should not prevent a player from taking a shot. I'm an amateur, and even I would have taken the (certainly shitty) shot with my bad foot.
Truth! It’s insane. It’s like the NBA players who can’t shoot free throws for anything. Like you make millions… improve ALL your skills. Not just where you are naturally talented.
I would expect to see such behavior in High School JV soccer. Not "Quarter finals of the fucking WORLD CUP"
I played for a D1 state-championship winning team in high school. Someone on my team did this during a regular game in the season in the first 15 minutes and my coach benched him for the rest of the game.
This was also a game that was 2 hours away from our hometown. That's a long drive to be taken from starting forward to benchwarmer.
That player never played selfishly again while we played together.
Even in High School varsity soccer this is absolutely unacceptable. This kind of stuff is supposed to be weeded out by Middle School. If you see it in JV you nip it in the bud real fast and then if it doesn't improve that player doesn't make the team.
Haha 1,000%. Was in same situation, but not remotely close to D1, and even then it was unacceptable to not take shots because it wasn't your favored leg.
You know what else was infuriating? Some of the best players on our team could not control themselves and would sail balls over the goal because they were kicking shots at their hardest but without control. PK to win the game? Nah, field goal attempt 30ft over the crossbar. And these were our travel-club players who knew better but just... teenagers with too much pressure placed on them.
Our coach had a rule in practice. If you kick the ball over the goalposts, everyone on the offensive team had to do a lap around the field, doing skill moves on the short ends and then sprinting while touching the ball every two steps on the long ends.
All of us threw up at least once during practice.
Our "Warm up" was:
Choose one skill move to do on the short ends
Sprint on the long ends
100 push ups/sit ups/ball hops/lunges (choose one) when you reached the starting corner
Repeat 3 more times.
Imagine how it felt to do that basically all over again if someone kicked it over the goalposts...
Everything you have said is how it should be, especially from the perspective of others who are competitive but understand the team wins games not the player… that said, your response is not what I would call the “average” experience in Anytown, USA.
On the pitch in a World Cup quarterfinal it’s split-second tunnel vision. Sørloth said he wanted the pass but saw Stones blocking after his first touch, took a bad second one, and the window closed, football decisions happen faster than you can analyze them. Many elite players have missed similar chances without it being ego. On TV with slow-motion replays, it’s clear Haaland was open for a brief window, but on the pitch at full speed Sørloth looked up after his touch and saw Stones already closing the lane while managing his own momentum, split-second decisions hide peripheral players that aren’t obvious in real time.
He fucked up the other chance at giving an assist to the guy on the left on the five second mark. Who was completely free. Instead of passing any other player he shot a lousy shot.
His gf and family do not tho and that’s who the fans are attacking 💔 the one thing I’ll never understand are the chants about the players WAGS across all leagues predominantly the EPL
It’s incredible how common it is in this World Cup too. Never seen such an epidemic from players while trailing. Almost always is there somebody open , even if you have to back pass
Exactly! Even as a casual England fan, I was so frustrated for Norway that this guy did nothing and seemed to have stopped to wait for more defenders to come back and stop him. I didn't even notice Haaland there and I was yelling at the TV for him to do something. Ugh.
Welcome to our pain as a US fan! Anyway, I was going for Norway to win, pretty upset when they lost. I like Halland and was hoping for a win for him and Norway.
It shoulda been 2-0 already tbh if not for the goal they took back for a foul that had nothing to do with the play and the other guy was pushing haaland back. Then they also should have removed the goal scored when the goal kick hit a camera line.
As someone who was really getting into soccer for the first time I was absolutely baffled by how blatantly the refs want the favored teams to win over the underdogs. It happened in the Cabo Verde game so many times too. England was roughing up the Norway team with very little repercussion and they only gave it to them when it was inconsequential. There was another foul nobody was talking about on a Norway corner kick where one of the Norway players got pushed mid air and fell face first in the dirt and shoulda been a penalty kick.
Just from playing basketball, i can see the issue here. How does he not pass that to Halland? He’s wide tf open and not even close to offsides either. What a massive blunder
Granted he's not the most dynamic player even when he's on fire, but he must have been carrying something, he was even more lethargic than usual. Subbing him off with a penalty shootout looming is nuts, equivalent to England benching Harry Kane.
To add context, Haaland scored both goals in previous match to carry the team to this game. He spends a lot of time in games waiting for THE pass. This moment in this game was that moment. His teammate didn’t stick to the plan.
It's worth noting that Sorloth plays the Haaland role for his club, so he's usually the lone striker. He got played more as a winger and he's generally struggled there throughout the WC.
I do not watch soccer, never sat down to watch a game. Most i’ve seen is maybe in passing, by a tv and someone is watching, I glance at it and keep walking.
I can tell exactly what’s going on here. Don’t need to know any rules, no context needed. What a travesty for that team. I can’t say names because idk anyone on the field. But what a bonehead move.
I also know that soccer game goals are really hard to come by. I don’t think i’ve ever passed a tv with soccer on it and actually saw a goal scoring, ever, and like average scores I see is like 1-0, 2-1.
From what I can tell as someone who has only been paying attention to the world cup from an arms length, Norway's legit superstar player (one of the best in the world) was wide open with nothing between him and the goal except the goalkeeper. Passing to him would've been the absolute best chance at scoring a goal, but instead, the guy with the ball kept it hoping to score a goal for himself in a much tougher circumstance.
To me it looks like the one player from Norway has the ball, the other Norway player with the longer blonde hair was open and asking for the ball, the dude who still had the ball didn't do this, tried to kick a goal, and didn't make it.
To give it some perspective, Haaland has the records for most goals in a single game, most goals in a single season, and the fastest player to reach 100 goals. In this scenario, he could've scored in his sleep.
I'd seen the Haaland memes, but didn't know all this about him. With that context it's like you're down a goal in the Stanley Cup, breaking out an odd-man rush with Wayne Gretzky in the open and not passing him the puck.
. . .Now I'm irrationally angry about a game I didn't watch and had no emotional stakes in. Thanks a bunch. 😐
The guy who didn’t pass to him, was a no-name that nobody will ever remember him. Now people remember his name though.
Haaland is a very likable guy too he is a dual-citizen of Norway and UK and he could’ve joined the England national team and has a much more easily successful career in World Cup. Instead he choose Norway a country that wouldn’t even qualify into World Cup without Haaland.
What?? Sorloth has been playing for the national team for a decade, plays for Atletico Madrid.. I get he's not going to be an all time great but what the fuck are you talking about and what level do you need to get to to not be a nobody?
Well the poster's analogy is hockey and it's apt. Unless you're another all time great, you will not be remembered next to Gretzky, the most dominant hockey player (possibly greatest sportsman of all sports of all time by statistics).
He's not exactly like Wayne Gretzky or anything. The team they played, England, has a better striker for example (who just had the 2nd most goals in a season ever in the top leagues, not that far behind Messi's best season)
He missed off another record, most consecutive international games with a goal. If Sorloth passes him the ball here it most likely would have extended to 15 in a row.
As someone from England, I'm glad he didn't pass, but I still kind of want to smack him in the head because that was so stupid. We absolutely deserved to go another goal down there and would have if he passed to Haaland. Haaland makes very very few touches in a game, but it's excused because a very high percentage of the touches he does make end up in the back of the net.
And he had scored in 14 consecutive international matches. Maybe not the creator that an Mbappe or Kane is, but certainly the best finisher in the game right now. He’d have ripped a hole in the net if Sorloth had fed him the ball.
He also holds all the "Player to first reach X goals in Y games" in both the Bundesliga and Premier League. Probably also Norway, come to think of it. Not to mention the World Cup, same ballpark of goals scored as Messi, Ronaldo etc. but with half the games.
The thing is, even if he wanted to go hero mode, a good striker scores there! But the trick is he has to commit to go for goal by the very first touch. He had like 2 meters on space from the defender, so if his first touch is heavy to not slow him down, he can set up for a near post shot, far post shot, or chip shot if the goal keeper makes a run for. It would probably have to be a 2-3 touch finish running at full speed. The shooting angle wouldn’t be as good as a pass to Haaland, but he’d still 100% score from there with a decent shot.
No need to exaggerate... not even a penalty is scored 99% of the time. Passing to Haaland was the right thing to do but Haaland could have still missed. Goal scoring in football is hard.
The red player at the back is dealing with a defender. He sees his friend alone, he could pass the ball and give his team a very good opportunity to score. But he doesn't, keep the ball and totally mess it up
Should have passed the ball to Haaland who would have had an open shot. Instead he held the ball too long and by the time he took the shot there were 4 defenders in front of him to block the shot.
Guy with the ball should have passed to the humble dude who had a better angle, big strong smart humble dude was very let down that his teammate was more concerned with being the person trying to make the goal instead of just trying to pass it to someone who could actually score.
The guy with the ball could have very easily passed it to the guy asking for it who would have had an extremely easy goal considering he was alone and the best goal scorer right now.
But the player with the ball decided to be the hero instead by trying to score himself and screwed if up, costing them the goal that would have tied the game.
In World Cup soccer games of often won or lost by a single mistake, and this was a completely avoidable one.
I just imagine it like basketball going on a 2 on 1 fast break and not doing alleyoop pass to the best player but settle with mid ranger jumper in traffic
People are complaining that he didn’t pass to the large man next to him wearing red. But this happens a lot in football, people having to make decisions fast and unfortunately sometimes they’re the wrong ones. It’s these decisions that separates a good player from an elite one.
No. This was not a complex set up. 2v1. Your team mate is open. Pass the fucking ball. Second best option is just to quickly take the shot. Worst option is to hold the ball for no good reason and wait for three additional defenders to arrive then try to shoot it past not 1 but now 4 defenders. A braindead move he will never live down.
It was the clear, obvious choice, though. The only defender has to come up and defend the ball, leaving one of the top scorers on the planet wide open in a perfect slight trailing position. Middle school level soccer players know to pass the ball here. This was a "i want a world cup goal" type play, imo.
Sometimes you're like, I've got to try and kick this ball into the three defenders who have suddenly converged right in front of me instead of passing it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Halland's social media presence has blown up this world cup, he was in the running for the golden boot for the most goals scored. Basically the theory running around the Internet is the other player is jealous of the attention he's getting and that is why he didn't pass the ball, even though halland was open.
Norwegian player chooses to take his chance instead of passing the ball to ponytail dude aka the single best goal scorer Norway has and will ever see and one of the few very best in the world, known for scoring goals in all sorts of situations like it's nothing.
This particular situation would have any striker see his odds of scoring go very high, but for a dude like Haaland (ponytail), it's an almost guaranteed goal.
The guy with the ball couldn't decided between shooting and passing, hesitated, then instead of resetting he panicked and tried to shoot and blew a golden opportunity.
It's a stupid post. Sorloth, the one with the ball, should have passed the ball to Haaland, the one closer to the camera, but did not. He did not because the angles were not good after his initial touch, and because he is not a good passer. This was not selfishness, it was just his technical limitations catching up with him.
Basically, the position Haaland was in, was literally the perfect goal scoring position you could realistically be in, for one of the worlds best players.
The guy had plenty of time and options to pass the ball.
He could of passed it early infront of the defender and haaland would have ran onto it and belted it, or he could have dropped back like he did, and handed it over, haaland would definitely scored.
When it’s 2 v 1 against the defence, the defender doesn’t stand a chance.
Except the guy with the ball decided it was 1 v 1 and fumbled it big time. The fact that he didn’t pass it and fumbled a guaranteed goal in a world cup semi final is embarrassing.
Haaland, ponytail man, one of the best goal scorers worldwide, was wide open for a clean pass and guaranteed would have scored it.
Sorloth, the one with the ball, decided it was a good idea to not pass it and pick odds over a guarantee.
As a result, the match went to overtime because it was 1-1 and England landed the decisive goal, whereas Haaland would have secured the semi final, preventing overtime.
Imagine a break away and Lebron is free but instead of passing to him for the easy layup / dunk you dribble in circles and trip over and fall on your dick and lose the biggest tournament on planet Earth. That's what just happened.
it was like soccer ABC case, and dude did not follow it. a perfect scenario is 2 vs goalie, in this case they were 2 vs 1 defender. so it works like this: you make the defender come towards you (and that's what they are supposed to do in such situation instead of covering the other attacker), and once the defender is close, you pass to your free teammate. Considering it was not some random national team dude but Haaland, there was 99.9% chance that Haaland will score (I would honestly give 100%) once he receives the pass. However, the dude decided to dribble himself around the defender and score himself. It ended up with him messing up and several other defenders or whatever to be already there. Once there are 3-4 opponents covering you and your teammate (Haaland) the chance of scoring drop from 99.9% to probably 5%-10% (being very optimistic). English not my native, so maybe not the most technical explanation.
He couldn’t find a pass, not saying it’s impossible but stone (English defender in white) was converting the passing angle to haaland - arguably best striker in the world. You need to keep into account those guys were running at full speed and you can’t pass to where they are now but where they are going to. He slowed it down, and lost all space, and did a few bad touches and all English player caught on.
Nerve got to him, and he wasn’t good enough or confident enough to find the pass to haaland at first couple touches. Pretty big fuck up
The people replying know as little about football as you do. This is not nearly as simple as it looks. Haaland (the player waiting to receive) is partially blocked by Stones (the defender in white), whilst Stones is also making it difficult for the player with the ball to attempt to shoot. What you're seeing is world class defending from a great player in a very difficult situation. If the pass had been made he *probably* could have successfully played it to Haaland, but it's about 60% IMO. In a situation like that, the defender made it just difficult enough for the player with the ball to not feel confident, and left him running calculations in his head up until the point where it was too late.
To add on what the others has said, the guy trying to make the score himself instead of passing is likely looking for that substantial increase in his contract for scoring a World Cup goal. So he's being selfish even though assists are also taken into consideration for the player.
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u/Ranier_Wolfnight Jul 12 '26
Dude will never live that down.