Tuchel Calls England 'Sloppy'; Bellingham Beats Norway
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- Jude Bellingham scored twice (47th and 93rd minutes) to drag England past Norway in extra time during the Miami quarter-final, taking his tournament tally to six goals at a goal-a-game average.
- Thomas Tuchel branded England's display "lucky," "sloppy," and full of "a lot of technical mistakes," yet credited "pure mentality" for reaching a first semi-final since 2018 in Russia.
- Bellingham pushed back on Tuchel's criticism post-match with "yeah well, whatever," saying "sometimes you have to win dirty" after the 122-minute slog against Haaland, Odegaard, Sorloth and Nusa in humid Miami heat.
- Wayne Rooney, Alan Shearer, and Matt Upson all backed Tuchel's blunt assessment, with Rooney calling the German boss "spot on in terms of the mentality" and Shearer crediting the squad's character for grinding through.
- England return to Atlanta for the semi-final with limited recovery time after a grueling match in which Ezri Konsa went off injured and Declan Rice — a pre-game injury doubt — was replaced at the start of the second half.
- England's path to the last four has been turbulent throughout: a 4-2 win over Croatia, a draw with Ghana, a 2-0 win over Panama, a comeback against DR Congo, and a 3-2 win over Mexico played with 10 men.
Why it matters: England have now scraped through six matches by leaning on individual quality and sheer willpower rather than fluency, with Tuchel bluntly stating "we can play better, there are a lot of things to do better" — a pointed warning that the mentality trick cannot carry them into a final against stronger opposition.
