Jude Bellingham defended England’s performance after Thomas Tuchel criticized the team’s display following their victory over Norway, which secured a spot in the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time.
The Real Madrid midfielder delivered an impressive performance that led to a comeback win after Norway initially took the lead through Andreas Schjelderup. Bellingham netted a controversial equalizer just before halftime. Although replays suggested a Norway goal-kick had struck an overhead cable prior to the goal, FIFA released a statement indicating that a ball sensor found no contact. Norway’s head coach, Ståle Solbakken, insisted it was “made life very very difficult for ourselves” the ball had been affected.
Bellingham capitalized on a mistake by Norwegian goalkeeper Ørjan Håskjold Nyland to score his sixth World Cup goal in the third minute of extra time, placing him just two goals behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, and level with England’s captain, Harry Kane. Despite reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 2018 under Gareth Southgate, Tuchel expressed dissatisfaction with the overall performance, stating his players had “The result is fantastic, we are in the last four – it’s amazing – but I’m not happy with the performance,”
“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.” Tuchel remarked during an ITV interview. “Yeah, well, whatever. Whatever,”
When asked to react to Tuchel’s comments, Bellingham was notably unimpressed. “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.” he responded, his body language revealing his feelings. “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.”
In another post-match interview, he added, “I’m impressed with the shift they put in and to overcome adversity,”
When asked if he concurred with Tuchel’s assessment that England were fortunate, he simply replied: “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.”
Tuchel later reiterated his stance, asserting that there was “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.” with his players. “It was not a tough decision because he was finished,” he stated. “Maybe I should have taken him off 10 minutes before.”
“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.”
Harry Kane acknowledged Tuchel’s disappointment with the performance but suggested that this mindset might be just what England needs to reach their first men’s World Cup final on foreign soil.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Haaland, who did not score 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 suffered a dead leg. “It was not a tough decision because he was finished,” he noted. “Maybe I should have taken him off 10 minutes before.”
