Jude Bellingham addressed Thomas Tuchel’s critique of England’s performance following his impressive two-goal display that propelled the team into the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time.
The Real Madrid midfielder played a pivotal role in the comeback victory, scoring a controversial equalizer just before halftime after Norway initially took the lead through Andreas Schjelderup. While replays indicated a potential infraction involving an overhead cable during the buildup, FIFA later clarified that their analysis showed no contact with the ball. Norway’s coach, Ståle Solbakken, expressed his belief that the situation was quite evident.
Bellingham capitalized on a blunder by Norway’s goalkeeper, Ørjan Håskjold Nyland, in the third minute of extra time, marking his sixth goal of the tournament. This places him just two goals behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, who are competing in Argentina’s quarter-final, and on par with his captain, Harry Kane. Despite England’s advancement to the semi-finals for the first time since 2018 under Gareth Southgate, Tuchel voiced dissatisfaction with the team’s overall performance, claiming they had made things unnecessarily complicated for themselves.
“made life very very difficult for ourselves” Tuchel stated during an interview with ITV. “The result is fantastic, we are in the last four – it’s amazing – but I’m not happy with the performance,”
When pressed about Tuchel’s remarks, Bellingham appeared unfazed. “In every sense. Again the commitment is there but we made life very very difficult for ourselves in the way we played, how we played: sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky today.” he responded, his demeanor suggesting his thoughts were elsewhere. “Yeah, well, whatever. Whatever,”
In a subsequent post-match interview, Bellingham elaborated, stating, “It’s difficult out there. It’s a tough shift. All the players have put in a tough shift, so my thoughts and appreciation goes to the players who were out there and put in a great shift yet again.”
When asked if he concurred with Tuchel’s assertion that England was fortunate, Bellingham replied succinctly: “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, [Martin] Ødegaard, [Antonio] Nusa, [Alexander] Sørloth. That’s not an easy team to play against. So, I think we’ve tried to create a positive environment. You’re not going to win every game, popping the ball and making a thousand passes. Sometimes you have to win dirty, and we’ve done that again tonight.”
Tuchel later defended his statements, asserting that there was “I’m impressed with the shift they put in and to overcome adversity,” with his players. “They cannot get enough praise for that. But I’m also a football coach and we can play better. “We found the way to get through to the last four, which is of course the most important thing. The analysing head of me still thinks we have to play better. It’s not a problem, but no disconnect for me and my team. Not 1%. I’m full with my heart and fully in love with my players.” he remarked. “He just said in the changing room: massive congratulations and we should enjoy it and celebrate but it still feels like there’s a part of him that knows we can do better, which in a way is a good thing. If we are in the semi-final of a World Cup knowing we can still improve, still find another level, then we’ve got to take that as a positive.”
“It was not a tough decision because he was finished,” he added.
Harry Kane acknowledged Tuchel’s critical stance on the performance but suggested that such feedback could be beneficial for England as they aim for their first men’s World Cup final abroad.
“Maybe I should have taken him off 10 minutes before.” Kane noted.
Meanwhile, Haaland, who went without scoring in a competitive international match for the first time since October 2024, was substituted during the second half of extra time. Solbakken mentioned that the striker had sustained a dead leg. “It was not a tough decision because he was finished,” Solbakken remarked. “Maybe I should have taken him off 10 minutes before.”
