Alexander Sorloth’s girlfriend has released a statement after a wave of hateful comments flooded her Instagram posts following Norway’s defeat to England at the 2026 World Cup.
Norway narrowly lost their first-ever World Cup quarter-final at the Miami Stadium on Saturday. They took the lead in the 36th minute through Andreas Schjelderup and then spurned an opportunity to double their advantage before half-time.
Sorloth, who plies his trade with Spanish side Atletico Madrid and has been capped 77 times by Norway, found himself in a two-versus-one situation in the 44th minute after receiving the ball from Martin Odegaard.
Alongside him was Erling Haaland, arguably the best centre-forward in the world, who had already scored seven goals at this summer’s tournament.
Rather than pass the ball to Haaland, Sorloth opted to cut inside and shoot, only for his shot to be blocked. Haaland’s frustration was clear for all to see. Watch a clip of the incident below:
England equalised through Jude Bellingham moments later – albeit in controversial circumstances, with television replays appearing to show the ball hit a spidercam cable and changed trajectory following Orjan Nyland’s goal-kick. Fresh data has now emerged, which appears to confirm the goal was correctly allowed to stand.
Bellingham then sent England through to the semi-finals, where they face Argentina on Wednesday, after scoring the winner in extra-time.
Sorloth Explains Why He Didn’t Pass to Haaland
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Speaking to the press after Norway’s World Cup exit, Sorloth explained why he failed to pass to Haaland.
Per GOAL, the 30-year-old striker said: “I take a touch and look up, and then I see that [John] Stones blocks that pass. Then I take another touch, and that is too bad. I wait for him to make a move instead of me making him make a move.
“The only thing I want in that situation there is to pass to Erling. Then it feels like that pass isn’t there, and then I go for the shot.”
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Despite Sorloth’s explanation, the reaction on social media has been brutal. So much so that the forward’s girlfriend, Lena Selnes, has released a statement following a wave of awful messages that her and her partner have received.
Selnes posted a screenshot showing a series of hateful Instagram comments, including death threats, alongside the following statement, per The Mirror:
“The World Cup and football bring a lot of joy, but also a lot of hate. I don’t really want to give it any attention, but feel the need to after comments like this.
“Hope everyone can think a little extra before making such comments, regardless of the situation.”
While this summer’s tournament was a success for Norway, with Haaland further cementing his status as a global superstar, the reaction towards Sorloth has cast a dark cloud over their World Cup adventure.
The eyes of the UFC world were on Conor McGregor on Saturday as he made his return to the cage when he faced off against Max Holloway. But what should have been a memorable night for its drama and action, became memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Ending his five-year absence from the UFC, McGregor flew out the gates quickly as he attempted to land a flying kick on his opponent. Unfortunately, however, he landed awkwardly on his right knee, leading him to sustain a bad injury.
The Irishman was evidently suffering from the injury and the Las Vegas bout had to be called off by referee Mike Beltran after just 69 seconds.
In the aftermath of the fight, Holloway revealed that, despite suffering the early injury, which could possibly be a torn ACL, McGregor was briefly insistent on fighting on one leg.
Conor McGregor’s Yell After Suffering Knee Injury
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Speaking to Paramount +, Holloway said: “The referee said thanks for pushing him (to end the fight) because it is a hard spot. And Conor is crazy.
“Conor is like, ‘fight! fight!’, and I was like, ‘you’re f****** crazy, bro.’ For the first one, when he first fell down, he was like, ‘fight! fight! We’re good!’ And then he went down a second time, I could just tell. His whole demeanour changed.
“I had him weak in the knees, what can I say? I’m just praying for the guy, you know? All jokes aside, as a human being, even when I was in there I was saying to the referee, ‘Yo, this guy is done.'”
Later on at his post-fight press conference, Holloway added: “He brought his kids to the fight, come on. I’m not trying to beat up a wounded dog.”
“My head gasket is gone. Destroyed,” McGregor wrote on his X account. “I had no injury / injuries going into the fight. I was throwing kicks, planted and jumping, all throughout camp as well as backstage before the fight. This came out of nowhere. I am beyond dark here. I can only describe it as hell.”
With recovery time for ACL’s ranging from six to 12 months, there is a long road to recovery ahead of ‘The Notorious’, and at 37, it is not clear whether the Irishman will travel down that road. However, you can never rule McGregor out, and he has already taken to social media to vow a return, writing: “I will overcome this. I will not be deterred. I will return.”
Manchester United are in advanced talks with Aston Villa to sign Youri Tielemans, according to David Ornstein.
The Red Devils have made bolstering their midfield a priority this summer, and have already sealed a deal to bring in Andrey Santos from Chelsea for a package worth around £50m including add-ons.
A deal for Atalanta star Ederson had also been agreed, but United have now pulled out of that deal due to issues with his medical, and they have moved quickly to seal a deal for an alternative target out of the blue.
Man Utd In Advanced Talks to Sign Tielemans
According to The Athletic, Man Utd are now in advanced talks with Villa for the Belgium captain after identifying an opportunity to bring him to Old Trafford.
Argentina have reportedly made a special request to FIFA ahead of their 2026 World Cup semi-final clash against England on Wednesday.
The reigning world champions secured their place in the semi-finals courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Switzerland at the Kansas City Stadium. Lionel Scaloni’s side took an early lead when Alexis Mac Allister headed home Lionel Messi’s corner in the 10th minute.
However, Switzerland began to dominate the match in the second half and Dan Ndoye’s 67th-minute equaliser was no less than the European nation deserved.
The game’s turning point occurred five minutes later when Switzerland forward Breel Embolo was shown a second yellow card, following a mistaken identity VAR review, for a cynical dive.
Argentina went on to win the quarter-final 3-1, with Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez both scoring in the second half of extra-time.
England and Argentina: Old Rivals
The South Americans now prepare to take on their old rivals England at the Atlanta Stadium on Wednesday night.
The two nations haven’t faced each other since the 2002 World Cup group stages, when England secured a 1-0 win thanks to a David Beckham penalty. Four years earlier, Beckham was famously sent off for kicking Diego Simeone as Argentina advanced to the quarter-finals.
But the most famous clash between the two countries happened at the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico. Legendary forward Diego Maradona netted the most infamous goal in football history – his ‘Hand of God’ goal where he punched the ball into the net after out-jumping Peter Shilton – before scoring the ‘Goal of the Century’ four minutes later.
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Argentina’s Request to FIFA
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Ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final, Argentina have made a special request to FIFA in the hope that it may work in their favour.
Journalist Gaston Edul, per The Mirror, claims that Argentina have asked world football’s governing body if they can wear their all-blue kit as opposed to their iconic blue and white strip.
La Albiceleste have worn their traditional blue and white striped kit in all but one of their six 2026 World Cup matches. The exception was their 3-1 win over Jordan in the group stages.
Argentina wore navy blue during their two most famous wins over England at the 1986 and 1998 World Cup finals.
It seems the South American nation believe wearing navy blue once again could prove to be a lucky omen.
On this occasion, Argentina will be led by talismanic captain Messi, who has never faced England during his long career so far.
“It’s the first time I’m going to play against them. I’ve played against everyone except England, so it will be nice for that reason too.
“We’ll experience it for what it is: a World Cup semi-final against a great team, and we’ll try to arrive in the best possible shape to compete again.”
