World Cup 2026: Tuchel fumes at ‘lucky’ and ‘sloppy’ England – can ‘pure mentality’ be enough?
England, who made their home debut in 1966 and then played in Italy and Russia in 1990 and 2018, have another World Cup semi-final to prepare for.
As French referee Clement Turpin signaled the end of an eventful quarter-final win in Miami, Thomas Tuchel’s exhausted players fell to their knees in celebration after being sent to extra time by Norway.
England fans danced in the stands, two-goal scorer Jude Bellingham accidentally collided heads with Jordan Pickford during on-field celebrations, while captain Harry Kane lined up with his team-mates to pay tribute to the thousands of fans who made the long journey to Florida.
But Tuchel was far from impressed.
“We were lucky,” he said after the quarter-final, in which Norway took the lead, missed a great chance to make it 2-0, had the goal disallowed and also hit the bar.
“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves. The result is amazing. We are in the last four. It’s great but [I am] I am not satisfied with the performance in every sense.
“We made life difficult for us with the way we played and the way we played – sloppy, lots of technical errors, not fast enough, not repetitive enough.”
Tuchel suggested something was helping England progress.
“It’s a naive mentality,” he said.
Bellingham, who scored in the 47th and 93rd minutes, responded as follows when asked about his manager’s comments and criticisms about his performance: “Yes, whatever.
“Things are tough out there, it’s a tough change. All the players have gone through a tough change. My thoughts and credit go to our players there who have made a great change.”
England have been struggling to spark this World Cup since defeating Croatia 4-2 in their first group match.
They were held by Ghana, managed to edge Panama 2-0, fell behind DR Congo before advancing and dug deep to beat Mexico 3-2 with 10 men.
Tuchel said he “loves” the team but expects much more from them.
“[There is] “There is no disconnection between me and my team,” he said.
“I love my players and my team with all my heart, but we can play better, there is a lot to do better.”
Will they need it?
Will character and mentality be enough as England look to win the World Cup for only their second time, or do they need to improve?
