‘Whatever’: Bellingham angered by criticism of Thomas Tuchel after England beat Norway
Jude Bellingham appeared unfazed by Thomas Tuchel’s honest assessment of England’s performance after the Three Lions booked their place in the World Cup semi-finals with a hard-fought 2-1 extra-time victory over Norway on Saturday.
England came from behind in Miami after Andreas Schjelderup’s first-half opener as Bellingham equalized in stoppage time before scoring early in extra time. The win sealed England’s place in the semi-finals of the World Cup for the fourth time.
Despite the result, Tuchel was far from his team’s performance. Speaking to ITV after the game, the England manager described the performance as “sloppy” and admitted his side were lucky to progress.
“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four. It’s amazing, but I’m not happy with the performance,” Tuchel said.
“In every sense. Again, there’s determination, but the way we played we made life very, very difficult. Sloppy, lots of technical errors, not very fast, not very repetitive. We were lucky today.”
Jude Bellingham has hit back at Thomas Tuchel’s criticism of England’s performance against Norway.
“Maybe he doesn’t know what it means to face a team with Haaland, Üdegaard, Nusa, Sarloth”
A fair point? #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/8B2UqRbXo0— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 12, 2026
Bellingham, who was later informed of Tuchel’s comments during his own interview with ITV’s Gabriel Clarke, did not hide his frustration.
“Yeah, well, whatever. Anything,” Bellingham replied.
Norway vs England FIFA World Cup 2026: HIGHLIGHTS
“It’s tough out there. It’s a tough change. All the players have had a tough shift, so my thoughts and credit go to the players who were there.”
The Real Madrid midfielder had every reason to be happy with his own performance after pulling England back into the competition. Andreas Schjelderup put Norway ahead before Bellingham produced a controversial equalizer in first-half stoppage time. Replays appeared to show the ball hitting the top cable in the build-up, although FIFA later said this did not affect play.
With both teams tiring in the Miami heat, Bellingham struck again in extra time and were quickest to respond after Morgan Rogers’ effort was saved to secure England a place in the last four.
The brace made Bellingham the second-youngest player, after Pele, to score braces in consecutive World Cup knockout games. His sixth goal of the tournament also moved him level with Harry Kane in the race for the Golden Boot and equaled Gary Lineker’s record for most non-penalty goals scored by an England player at a single major tournament.
Despite Tuchel’s criticism, England captain Harry Kane defended his manager’s approach and said the team understood why higher standards were required.
“He just said in the dressing room, massive congratulations and we should enjoy it and celebrate, but I still feel there’s a part of him that knows we can be better,” Kane said.
“In a way it’s a good thing. If we’re in the semi-finals of the World Cup knowing that we can keep improving, keep finding another level, then we have to take that as a positive.”
But Bellingham preferred to focus on England’s resilience rather than the quality of the display.
“When things didn’t work, we found a way to win the game again. Whether it’s in 90 minutes or 120 minutes, we’ll give it everything we’ve got,” he said.
“You saw it there. Whoever was ready to step up, stepped up and smashed it. I’m so proud of this team again. We’re in the semi-finals of the World Cup.”
England will face the winner of Argentina and Switzerland in the semi-finals as they continue their quest for a first World Cup title since 1966.
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Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
Jul 12, 2026 07:03 IST