Lip reader reveals Tuchel's furious half-time rant as England survive Norway scare

Thomas Tuchel delivered a scathing touchline rant at his England players during their Euro 2024 quarter-final against Norway, demanding they work harder and follow instructions, according to lip reader Nicola Hickling. England ultimately won 2-1 in extra-time, with Jude Bellingham scoring twice, but the path to victory was far from smooth.

Hickling, speaking to the Daily Mail, assessed footage of Tuchel addressing his squad during a hydration break and claimed the England head coach said: “Work harder. Go faster. You’re so static. You’re just standing. I need to tell you… Listen to the staff. We’ve got to fight for our positions. Listen to the staff. Keep the ball low. Less pushing, more focus on the ball.”

Tuchel also singled out Anthony Gordon directly, reportedly telling him: “Don’t come from the front. Your best position is on the right — that’s a fact. Every time you come from the front, the ball gets lost. Now listen: keep right, stay right.”

Despite the dressing-down, Norway emerged from the break looking sharper. John Stones surrendered possession inside the England box, nearly gifting Erling Haaland a chance before Jordan Pickford intervened. Haaland threatened again with a close-range header, and England were eventually punished when a loose touch from Harry Kane sparked a counter-attack that ended with Andreas Schjelderup sweeping home an intended cross.

England’s response came right on the cusp of half-time, when Bellingham equalised. The Real Madrid midfielder then struck three minutes into extra-time to complete his brace and send the Three Lions into the semi-finals.

Tuchel, however, refused to take much satisfaction from the result. “We were lucky,” he told ITV after the final whistle. “We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today. The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four. It’s amazing, but I’m not happy with the performance. Sloppy, tactical mistakes, not fast enough. Not repetitive enough. We were lucky enough.”

Bellingham appeared to take a more measured view of the performance, suggesting the players saw things slightly differently from their manager — though the full extent of his comments was not available in the source material.