Tuchel: This is My Opinion on Bellingham, and Our Reaction Was Good

Thomas Tuchel, the coach of the England national team, appeared in a press statement following the 4-2 victory over the Croatian national team in the first round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.

The German coach said in his talk: "Our reaction was good, but the first half was somewhat difficult for us. We were a bit tense. We made cautious decisions and had to retreat. We struggled to find our rhythm and didn't have enough confidence to break through the opponent's defenses."

He added: "I saw a statistic showing that we won only 33% of ground duels in the first half, and 73% in the second half. So even without the ball, our performance wasn't good enough, and we weren't committed enough. I liked the players' reaction in the second half. It was an exciting match, full of emotions. It took us some time to regain our balance."

He continued about what he said during halftime: "Even if we lose, it won't change my view of the past seventeen days, but let's play our style. We were too focused on maintaining the score. We played with seven defenders and didn't defend well. If the score isn't in our favor, we want to play our style. I tried to encourage them to attack."

Regarding Jude Bellingham, he said: "An excellent player, he deserved to start as a regular, and that's what he needs to do to compete for his place."

He concluded regarding Declan Rice's substitution: "Let's wait and see. I hope he's okay. I usually don't substitute Declan. We weren't precise in retrieving the balls. We learn a lot from these moments. We are exhausted, but I love the exhausted players in the locker room. It's pressure, it's the first match in the tournament."