Thomas Tuchel: "The Result is Fantastic, But I'm Not Happy With Our Play"

England manager Thomas Tuchel didn't mince words despite his team's dramatic 2-1 victory over Norway, a result that secured their spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semi-finals. The German tactician expressed mixed feelings, emphasizing that his squad had unnecessarily complicated their task on the pitch.

"The result is fantastic, and it's incredible to be among the last four teams in the tournament. However, today we made life very, very difficult for ourselves, and I'm absolutely not happy with our performance – in every sense," Tuchel began his analysis.

He added that while the players showed desire, their overall play suffered from significant shortcomings.

"We were sluggish, made too many technical errors, lacked pace and consistency. Today, we were simply lucky," the coach continued.

However, he firmly dismissed the notion that the subpar performance was due to a lack of character.

"No, the problem isn't a mental one. Quite the opposite – the lads showed pure character. It's not about the mentality, but the quality of our play. We need to play better," the German asserted.

He did, however, find reasons for optimism, praising the impact of the players introduced from the bench. "Reece James was excellent, Morgan Rogers also had a fantastic game today. Eberechi Eze and Jed Spence gradually found their rhythm. The credit is entirely theirs, even though overall, we were fortunate today."

When asked about Jude Bellingham's latest brilliant performance, which secured England's victory, Tuchel was concise and unequivocal: "Anything said about him is an understatement. He does it in every single match. World-class."

Finally, he turned his attention to the upcoming semi-final clash against either Argentina or Switzerland.

"We will get better; we have to. But for now, it's time to celebrate and reflect on what we've achieved. We have three days until the next battle, and we'll need everything we've got to progress," Tuchel concluded.