Jude Bellingham addressed Thomas Tuchel’s critique of England’s performance after his two goals secured a spot in the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time. Bellingham’s stellar performance led England to a comeback win, overcoming an initial lead from Norway’s Andreas Schjelderup, who scored early in the match.
Just before halftime, Bellingham found the net with a controversial equalizer. Although replays suggested that a Norway goal-kick had struck an overhead cable in the buildup, FIFA stated that their ball sensor found no evidence of contact. Norway’s coach, Ståle Solbakken, expressed his belief that the evidence was clear.
The Real Madrid midfielder capitalized on a mistake made by Norway’s goalkeeper, Ørjan Håskjold Nyland, in the third minute of extra time, marking his sixth World Cup goal—two behind Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé, and equal with Harry Kane. While England reached the semi-finals for the first time since 2018 under Gareth Southgate, Tuchel voiced dissatisfaction with his team’s overall performance, stating they had made things unnecessarily challenging.
“made life very very difficult for ourselves” Tuchel told ITV. “The result is fantastic, we are in the last four – it’s amazing – but I’m not happy with the performance,”
In response to Tuchel’s comments, Bellingham remained unimpressed, remarking, “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.” His body language indicated his feelings as he added, “Yeah, well, whatever. Whatever,”
When pressed for further comments, Bellingham stated, “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 claim that England were lucky, he simply replied: “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 clarified his remarks, 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 stated. “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,”
Harry Kane acknowledged Tuchel’s disappointment with the performance but suggested that this dissatisfaction could be beneficial for England’s quest for their first men’s World Cup final on foreign soil. He remarked, “Maybe I should have taken him off 10 minutes before.”
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 due to a dead leg, as confirmed by Solbakken. “It was not a tough decision because he was finished,” he said. “Maybe I should have taken him off 10 minutes before.”
