Harry Kane has moved quickly to cool talk of trouble inside England’s camp, backing Jude Bellingham after a tense exchange of words followed the team’s World Cup quarterfinal escape against Norway.
England reached the last four with a 2-1 extra-time win in Miami, a match played in punishing heat and rescued by Bellingham’s two goals. But the mood around the result shifted after manager Thomas Tuchel said the performance had not been good enough, and Bellingham appeared to push back by saying Tuchel did not know what it was like to play in those conditions.
Kane said the reaction had been overblown and insisted England were together before their semifinal against Argentina.
“What do you want Jude to say?” Kane said, defending Bellingham’s answer shortly after the final whistle. He added that England had “complete togetherness” and said, “Things sometimes get made out to be more than they are.”
The pressure is now on because England are two wins from the trophy, but the noise around Tuchel and Bellingham has created another familiar tournament subplot: whether the squad can keep control of the story around it.
Kane also backed Tuchel’s blunt style, saying the players understood the manager’s comments and respected his approach. He said Tuchel had praised the squad’s mentality and called him “one of the best managers in the world.”
England face Argentina next, with a place in the World Cup final waiting for the winner.
