Bellingham credits mum's pep talk after brace fires England into World Cup semi-finals

Jude Bellingham has credited his mother Denise with the motivational advice that helped him stay disciplined and decisive as England battled back from behind to beat Norway and reach the World Cup semi-finals in Miami.

The 23-year-old Real Madrid midfielder scored twice in the victory, drawing level with Harry Kane on six goals at this World Cup and placing himself among the frontrunners for both the Golden Ball and the Golden Boot.

“My mum’s been telling me all week to watch my language, watch my tackles, watch my face, watch my emotions,” Bellingham said after the match. “She drilled it into me all week about being careful of that yellow card.”

Avoiding a booking was significant — another yellow card would have ruled Bellingham out of the semi-final. He acknowledged that the referee’s willingness to allow respectful communication made the task easier. “When I get the balance right, and there’s a referee who’s willing to listen, it makes it a lot easier,” he added.

Reflecting on a World Cup run that has exceeded his own expectations, Bellingham was characteristically generous towards his teammates. “Probably a bit beyond, to be honest. I’m a confident boy, but I don’t think you go to bed at night dreaming about games like that,” he said. “My God, the effort of those lads in there. I’m so proud of how they keep battling, regardless of what situations we find ourselves in.”

Bellingham also pushed back — carefully — on manager Thomas Tuchel’s candid post-match assessment of England’s performance, suggesting the German may have underestimated the difficulty of facing Norway’s attacking options. “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those kind of conditions against Erling Haaland, Odegaard, Nusa, Sorloth,” Bellingham said. “That’s not an easy team to play against.”

He insisted the win over Norway was harder to secure than England’s earlier victory against Mexico, and framed the result as a testament to collective resilience rather than individual brilliance. “You’re not going to win every game popping the ball and making 1,000 passes. Sometimes you have to win dirty, and we’ve done that again tonight.”