Thomas Tuchel was far from satisfied after England scraped past Norway 2-1 in a gruelling World Cup quarter-final, labelling his side "lucky" and slamming their performance as "sloppy" and full of "technical mistakes."
Jude Bellingham's double — including a 93rd-minute winner — sent England into the last four for the first time since 2018, but the German manager was in no mood to celebrate. "We made life very, very difficult for ourselves," Tuchel said. "The result is fantastic, but I am not happy with the performance in every sense."
Bellingham, who also scored in the 47th minute, defended his teammates. "Maybe he doesn't know what it's like to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard," the Real Madrid star said. "Sometimes you have to win dirty, and we did that today."
England took the lead through Bellingham early in the second half after Norway had dominated the opening period, taking the lead through Andreas Schjelderup and missing a golden chance to go 2-0 up. Norway also had a goal disallowed and hit the bar before Bellingham's decisive strike in extra time.
Former England captain Alan Shearer praised Tuchel's honesty: "Over the years, we might have had someone come out and say we were brilliant. You have to give him credit for doing it — he was having none of that."
Wayne Rooney agreed: "I love that interview. He was spot on in terms of the mentality. They found a way."
England will face Argentina in the semi-final in Atlanta on Wednesday. Tuchel admitted his team need to improve dramatically: "With my heart, I am fully in love with my players, but we can play better. There are a lot of things to do better."