Bellingham screams at bench and picks up booking as DR Congo stun England 1-0

Jude Bellingham turned to the England bench in visible fury after DR Congo took a shock 1-0 lead just seven minutes into their World Cup round-of-32 tie on Wednesday evening, with Brian Cipenga beating Jordan Pickford at his near post to silence the England support.

Cipenga’s goal stemmed from a defensive breakdown that drew immediate criticism. Djed Spence tracked Noah Sadiki as the ball was switched to the far side, leaving Cipenga unmarked at the back post. The striker took his touch cleanly, drove into the box and hit a low, hard finish past a diving Pickford.

Bellingham threw his arms up in frustration and turned toward Thomas Tuchel’s bench to make his feelings plain. Declan Rice was also spotted arguing with team-mates in the immediate aftermath. Commentator Alan Shearer was quick to apportion blame, noting: “England are all over the place. Spence comes in with the tackle but can’t get there, and Pickford gets done at his near post. For a keeper of his quality he shouldn’t be beaten there.”

Bellingham’s anger appeared to spill over into his play shortly afterwards, when he was booked for a late challenge before half-time. Shearer observed that the Real Madrid midfielder had committed to the tackle too early: “Bellingham made his mind up that he was going in for the crunching tackle a few seconds before, and he couldn’t change his mind. It is a yellow card, no doubt.”

Paul Robinson, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, said he was troubled by what he saw from the England camp after going behind: “I’m not enjoying the body language of the England players. I saw a shot of Jude Bellingham after that misplaced pass. I’m not liking the body language of the players and the manager at the moment.”

Commentator Guy Mowbray offered some context for Bellingham’s reaction, noting a pattern that has emerged at club level: “We see it for Real Madrid when things aren’t going entirely his way. You wouldn’t want to take that streak out of him, but he’s got to manage it now.”

England face the task of overturning the deficit against a DR Congo side that will grow in confidence the longer the scoreline remains in their favour.