The England under-19 women’s team will replay the final seconds of their European Championship qualifier against Norway later on Thursday after UEFA accepted the referee had made a mistake in the original fixture.
Norway were winning 2-1 in Belfast on Saturday when the sixth minute of stoppage time saw England awarded a penalty by German referee Marija Kurtes.
Leah Williamson scored from the spot but Kurtes disallowed the goal because an England player had encroached into the box before the kick was taken.
The final minute of the match followed and Norway appeared to have won 2-1.
However, the laws of football state that Kurtes should have ordered the penalty to be re-taken and UEFA, European football’s governing body, said Thursday it had no choice but to order the final moments of the match be replayed from the point of the penalty kick.
“We originally wrote that Norway had qualified”, UEFA said on its website.
“But on 8 April the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body announced that Norway’s game against England on 4 April will be replayed from the minute a penalty kick was awarded to England, who were 2-1 down at the time.”
UEFA added Kurtes had been sent home from the qualifying event being held in Northern Ireland.
The game will now restart from the penalty spot at the Seaview Stadium in Belfast at 9:45pm local time (2045 GMT) on Thursday.
Adding to the extraordinary nature of the replay, both England and Norway will play their final group matches before the last minute of their match is replayed.
England play Switzerland and Norway face Northern Ireland.
England beat Northern Ireland 9-1 in their other fixture earlier this week and Norway defeated Switzerland 2-0.
The top teams in each group qualify, along with the runners-up with the best record against the sides first and third in their group.
The finals will take place in Israel in July.