Jude Bellingham was left in tears after England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina – and then appeared to slap an opponent in the aftermath of the 2-1 loss.
The Real Madrid midfielder broke down on the pitch at the Atlanta Stadium, rubbing his eyes and face as he trudged across the field to applaud England fans. He was seen consoling Nico O’Reilly in the centre circle before leaping to the defence of Morgan Rogers, who was involved in a scrap at the end of the match. Bellingham then got into a shoving match with several Argentina players as tempers boiled over. Cameras captured the moment he slapped former Brighton midfielder Valentin Barco on the back of the head after Barco ran out onto the pitch directly in front of the England team celebrating.
“Jude Bellingham slapped an Argentine player and broke down in tears after England's 2-1 World Cup semi-final defeat.”
England had taken the lead in the 53rd minute when Anthony Gordon tapped in at the back post. But Thomas Tuchel’s side sat deep after a series of defensive substitutions, allowing Enzo Fernandez to rifle a rocket past Jordan Pickford from outside the box in the 85th minute. Super-sub Lautaro Martinez then broke English hearts with a free header at the back post in the 92nd minute.
Off the pitch, David Beckham was seen fighting back tears, consoled by his wife Victoria after the defeat.
Away from the stadium, British supermarkets showed solidarity in more lighthearted ways. Aldi went viral after pulling bottles of Argentinian Malbec from its wine aisles, placing a sign that read: “We have removed our Argentinian Malbec from the shelves in solidarity ahead of the game tomorrow. It’s coming home!” The supermarket’s Instagram post added: “The only thing NOT coming home is your nice bottle of vino (soz x).”
Uber Eats also joked on Instagram about temporarily suspending Argentinian products such as steak, chimichurri and empanadas across the app. Joe Groves, Head of Social at Uber, later confirmed the post was humour: “I can confirm yesterday’s post was a little light humour ahead of today’s match and nothing that will be taking effect on the app – we love all of our restaurant partners and their amazing food!”
Tesco turned its Wembley Extra store into England’s “luckiest supermarket” by featuring multiple wooden touchpoints for customers to touch for luck. Waitrose, meanwhile, kept its Argentinian Malbec on shelves, saying it prefers “to keep our competitive spirit confined to the pitch, not in our wine aisles.”
For Bellingham and England, the wait for a first World Cup final since 1966 goes on.
