Kane defends Tuchel after Bellingham's outburst in World Cup quarter-final

Harry Kane threw his public support behind Thomas Tuchel following the clash between the England manager and Jude Bellingham, which erupted the day after the Three Lions’ 2-1 a.e.t. victory over Norway in the 2026 World Cup quarter-final.

It all started with Tuchel’s post-match comments. Despite qualification for the semi-finals, the German tactician made no secret of his disappointment: “We really made life difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic, we’re in the semi-finals. It’s incredible, but I’m not satisfied with our performance. In every respect. It’s a matter of quality, we need to play better.”

Bellingham, who scored both England goals that evening, hit back sharply: “Maybe he sees our potential… or maybe he just doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these kinds of conditions against Haaland, Ødegaard, Nusa or Sørloth. It’s not an easy team to face. You won’t always win matches by keeping the ball and making a thousand passes. Sometimes you have to win by playing dirty. And that’s what we did tonight.”

When asked about the tension, the Bayern Munich captain and striker took a different approach. “When he sees us in training, he knows what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and our dribbling. He just wants to see that version of us in matches,” Kane explained. “He’s trying to bring the best out of us and we’re aware that we can still reach a better level.”

The England captain also acknowledged that the team had not yet delivered its best performance in the tournament. “We haven’t yet seen our best level, we’ve only shown it in short moments. Like against Norway. But we didn’t have the total control we wanted, and that we know we can have. We’ll play one of the best teams in the world in the semi-finals, and we know we can still improve.”

The semi-final is therefore shaping up with high internal tension, with an England dressing room apparently divided over how to assess the performance against the Norwegians.