2026-07-15 09:38:23

Thomas Tuchel has insisted he has “no problem” with Jude Bellingham.

The England manager was critical of his side following their 2-1 extra time victory over Norway in the World Cup quarter final at the weekend, prompting an unimpressed response from the player, who suggested the coach may not know what it was like to play in such a game.

And now Thomas has insisted there are no hard feelings and he felt Jude’s reaction was “very normal”.

He said: “Our comments come from the same place – from being competitive and having the edge when competition is on.

“He [Bellingham] was just confronted with a critique of my side. I [also] called him a world-class player. I said he had world-class actions again to decide the match. I said the mentality is outstanding of this team. All of that was not part of the question.

“I would maybe also bite back when I come from 120 minutes, score two goals and give literally everything that is in my body. It’s just a very normal reaction for a player of his mindset. So no problem.

“I spoke to the whole team. We debriefed [the game]. I spoke to the whole team after in the dressing room, which was basically the same message. And I explained it again on Sunday evening to just move on forward. Then, in the [same] talk, we put on a new direction, a new head, which is semi-final and Argentina.”

England face Argentina in Wednesday’s (15.07.26) semi-final, and the manager acknowledged the stakes are high for the fixture.

He said: “I know some of the players, I coached some of the players.

“I can sense it. You can see it. They have this kind of edge. You can sense it when they’re going a goal down, when matches are tight.

“We have the grit, we have the mentality that it takes to go up against it. And we are ready for it

“They’re almost the same group as four years ago. You can see the cohesion, you can see the sacrifice that they put into it. They believe in their style. And their style is a very emotional style. It was in Qatar and it is now.

“And, of course, history … they are also fuelled by that. They are fuelled by history, it means a lot to them. So this is what we basically expect, and what we are up against. But we are also emotional, we have the grit, we have the mentality that it takes to go up against it. And we are ready for it.”

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