Tuchel rebukes Pickford during match despite England's 4-2 victory over Croatia

England defeated Croatia 4-2 on Wednesday in their World Cup opener, topping Group L, but the evening was marked by a visible clash between Thomas Tuchel and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

On the pitch, the Three Lions dominated the Croatians, who nonetheless managed to equalize twice in the first half. Martin Baturina (36’) and Petar Musa (45’+5) had replied to Harry Kane’s brace before Jude Bellingham (47’) and Marcus Rashford (85’) sealed the result. Named man of the match, Kane praised Tuchel’s halftime address: “He told us to free ourselves, to calm down and go for it. We came back onto the pitch with overflowing energy in the second half, and our opponents couldn’t keep up with the pace. We could have even scored three or four more goals.”

But it was off the pitch that the most striking image of the evening emerged. According to Fox Sports journalist Geoff Shreeves, Tuchel confronted Pickford during play after a distribution choice deemed contrary to instructions, telling him: “Do what I told you.” The goalkeeper reportedly replied without flinching.

The German coach also reportedly raised his voice at halftime. His assistant Anthony Barry acknowledged ball management difficulties in the first half: “There was a lot of nervousness. We played long instead of short, and vice versa, without managing to exploit the spaces. We thought the penalty would free us up, allow us to get back to our game, but we fell back into our bad habits.”

England ultimately raised their level after the break, but the tension between Tuchel and Pickford is likely to fuel debate before their next match. Spain and Portugal, meanwhile, were forced to draw in their openers, held to 0-0 by Cape Verde and 1-1 by Congo respectively.