Tuchel reveals England's 'pretty simple' formula: Kane and Bellingham will do the rest

Thomas Tuchel has openly described England’s World Cup game plan as putting Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham together and trusting them to deliver — a formula that has produced all but one of the Three Lions’ goals in the tournament so far.

Bellingham underlined that reliance on Saturday with a brace against Norway to seal England’s place in the semi-finals, where Argentina stand between them and a first World Cup final appearance since 1966.

“If we are talking about a formula, it’s pretty simple: Put Harry and Jude together, they will do the rest,” Tuchel said after the Norway win. “We need to get better in attacking, to also bring other players into position, but of course they are decisive players. They love the responsibility, they have the quality, they show up in decisive moments, so there’s nothing wrong with it.”

The England head coach acknowledged the performance against Norway was not the team’s best, but was clear-eyed about what matters at this stage of the competition. “These two guys play for us and decide the matches for us, it’s impressive,” he added. “They are both top players, they found a way to play so efficiently with each other, through the middle of the pitch. Full credit to them, absolutely top tournament.”

Kane echoed his manager’s assessment, crediting Bellingham as the decisive factor once again. “It wasn’t our prettiest performance, we know, but we’re into a semi-final of a World Cup,” the Bayern Munich striker said. “The difference again was Jude with the two goals at the perfect time. That is what got us over the line.”

Bellingham’s double against Norway brings him level with Kane on six goals for the tournament, placing both men in contention for the Golden Boot. Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi currently lead the race on eight goals apiece, meaning the England pair face a significant challenge to overhaul them — particularly with Messi set to line up against them in the last four.

Marcus Rashford is the only other England player to have found the net, highlighting just how heavily Tuchel’s side has leaned on its two star names. Whether that narrow concentration of firepower proves sufficient against an Argentina side built around the tournament’s leading scorer remains the defining question of England’s semi-final.