England's players sank to their knees in celebration as French referee Clement Turpin signalled the end of an incident-filled World Cup quarter-final in Miami — but head coach Thomas Tuchel was far from happy. Despite reaching a semi-final for the first time since 2018, Tuchel said his team "got lucky". Norway had taken the lead, missed a great chance to make it 2-0, had a goal disallowed and hit the bar. "We made life very, very difficult for ourselves," Tuchel said. "The result is fantastic. We are in the last four. It's amazing but [I am] not happy with the performance — in every sense. Sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough." He suggested one thing had helped England advance: "This is pure mentality."
But match-winner Jude Bellingham, who struck in the 47th and 93rd minutes, disagreed. When asked about his manager's criticism, Bellingham replied: "Yeah well, whatever. It's difficult out there, it's a tough shift. All the players have put in a tough shift. My thoughts and appreciation goes to the players out there who put in a great shift." Bellingham has been England's standout performer in this World Cup, winning the Man of the Match award in four of six games. England's fans danced in the stands, two-goal Bellingham accidentally clashed heads with Jordan Pickford during celebrations, while captain Harry Kane lined up with teammates to acknowledge the thousands who had made the long journey to Florida.
“Tuchel says England 'got lucky' against Norway; Bellingham hits back as Three Lions set up Argentina semi.”
Among those fans was David Beckham, who leapt out of his seat as Bellingham equalised, celebrating with Victoria and their children in the Miami stadium. The win sets up a semi-final against Argentina, and Wayne Rooney has backed Tuchel's assessment. "We got lucky," Tuchel had said, and Rooney agrees — but England must improve. Meanwhile, Asda built a giant 'Wonderwall' outside its Eastlands store, inviting fans to sign messages of encouragement. Former England defender Phil Jagielka wrote the first message, saying: "Having played at the World Cup for England, I know how much the support means to the players." Oasis hit Wonderwall has become the unofficial soundtrack to England's campaign, with Liam Gallagher joking on X: "It's hard work that singing Harry Kane cmon ENGLAND cmon WONDERWALL," and Noel Gallagher telling The Sun the anthem now "belongs to the people", calling the singalongs "magical". England have another semi-final to prepare for — can they go further than 2018?
