Tuchel, Kane & Bellingham React to England Winning Group L | FIFA World Cup 2026

Thomas Englund, top of the group. How do you sum up today's performance? Yeah, we did what was needed. It was what we expected. A tough match against a physical opponent. Difficult to score. We were the only team to create this amount of chances and score twice against them. We were very aggressive. We had to be very careful with the counter-attacks because they're strong. We did well overall and deserved to win, but it was a hard piece of work. You saw the role he played in both goals. How do you sum up Jude Bellingham's performance today? Good, good performance again. We're happy that he's in this kind of shape, but everyone did what they needed to do. It was a big part of it. Yeah, a moment of history as well today. Harry Kane is now England's record goal scorer at World Cup. Yeah, good, good, good. It's not the end. It isn't the end. What is there to build on? Maybe the last 20 minutes. No, there's more to build on. You have to get so many details right. It's an aggressive approach that we take to defend the one-on-ones. If you're close to the pitch, you see it. That's what it is, but the tournament starts again now in knockout. Now we collect our strength and collect our energy. We build on what we have, the team spirit, fighting spirit, the belief, and we will step up. The bigger the games get, the bigger we will get. What does this mean today as well for those players making their first appearance at a World Cup, a first start like Morgan Rodgers, for instance? Yeah, good. I'm happy that Oli is on the pitch finally and Jordan Henderson. They deserve so much more than they deserve. They're key players in their clubs. They get difficult decisions from me. That's what they signed up for. We're here for a bigger goal, and everyone buys into that. A final point. The next game in just four days' time, DR Congo or Senegal looks likely. How's the fitness of players? Kwanzaa went off. Saka, Rijka is not a problem. Declan had the chance to take him completely off the match, to not concede a second yellow, which helps us a lot. Charelle, I don't know, had to go off injured. We need to see, but three days and then next match in four days is not a problem. We love that and we're good at that. Thanks for joining us. Well, thanks for running back a long run. How do you sum it up? Group one, job done today in terms of the win. Yeah, first job achieved. We came here to do it in sections. We got through the pre-camp games really well, and now we achieved our first objective, which was to get through the group and top it as well. What was said at halftime? You're doing well. Keep going. A little bit more. Another gear. Nothing's crazy. We knew what level we were at. We know what level we want to achieve, and we did it in the second half. The manager says that you'll see a better England in the knockout stage. We'll see. Hopefully. Hopefully. I think every day we've got to try and improve. Every game we've got to improve. Yeah, it's up to us to do that. What pleased you most today? The goal or the assist? The assist. I think it was just a good culmination of play, and to give it to Harry again, who just continues to raise his level, is incredible. Well, you know that assist also means history. Harry Kane, now England's record goalscorer at World Cups. It's everything he deserves. You know what I mean? You see the effort that he puts in as a captain. You see how he leads us. His quality speaks for itself. He's the best. I think they're playing your song. I think so. Well done. Thank you. Harry, well done. Group one, how do you sum up the performance? Yeah, solid performance again. I think it's the tricky side. The way they play. We've got some fast players, tricky players. If you're not careful, it can cause you problems. They had little moments there throughout the game, but overall, I think we controlled it pretty well. The first half, we were just maybe a little bit sloppy in the final third with the final cross or the final ball. We got better in the second half, took our chances, and then would have liked to have seen out the game a little bit easier, but it became a bit of a passable match. But overall, just a good win. You've seen some good performances by Jude Bellingham. Where do you place today's? Yeah, another top performance. Jude looks fit, looks sharp, looks like he's got the bit between his teeth to really go out there and prove to the world what type of player he is. You saw that again today. So, yeah, it's fantastic to play with him. Obviously, the cross he put in for my goal just shows his quality. But I think just his effort, non-stop running, tackling, tracking back, and that's the type of players we want in our team. He was placed in a deeper role today. Do you think that not freed him up, but that enabled him to maybe do a little bit more from deeper positions naturally? Yeah, Jude's a fantastic runner with the ball and also without the ball, making runs in behind from deep. He's so hard to track. He's strong. He's physical. So, I think sometimes in certain games, you're going to see the best out of him when he's in that situation like we did today. Obviously, Morgan was more planning between the lines and making it difficult for the defenders that way. Jude and me were probably running in the depth a little bit more. Yeah, like I said, he's a fantastic player all round. Wherever he plays, I think he's effective and for sure he was today. He says he preferred the assist to you rather than the goal. You'll be aware of the history, obviously, that goes with that goal now, England's top scorer at World Cups. Yeah, obviously, another proud one to reach for sure. Number 11, like I touched on a bit earlier, Jude with a great bit of playing and great cross. He kind of just hung it up and I was kind of waiting for that one throughout the game just to get across my mind there and it was nice to see it go in. So, yeah, let's hope it's not the last this tournament. Well, you're getting an old hand at this World Cup business, aren't you? And our third World Cup. So, how did you sum up today and how do you sum up the camp so far? I think it's been good. I think all the games have brought something different out of us and as players, we do everything to just try to win the game and get the point. But, you know, there's small things in a game that you have to adapt and change the way you're playing and I feel like today, especially after half-time, we made the right adjustments. But also, we kept going because we knew we had a feeling that the things that we were doing in the first half were the right things. It was just the wrong final action. So, we just tried to calm down a little bit and concentrate more on the final pass and the finish and, you know, two good goals. And in the end, we were unlucky not to get more. But, you know, we've been in football a long time. We know that this is how the game goes and, at the end of the day, you have to try to do the job that's required to win the game. So, yeah, it's a much different conversation if we have a similar performance in the first half and the game remains 0-0. It's a much more difficult conversation to have. But, yeah, I'm very pleased that we got the two goals and the points. I'm very pleased, to get the start, to come in. You did your work before the tournament. There's a little bit of extra fitness work. So, to come in now and get the start, what did that mean today? No, it's always an honour to play, you know, but I know my quality. I know what I can try and bring to a game. So, you know, of course, I want to start as many games as possible. But if I'm not, then I have to try to come on and affect the game in a positive way and ultimately either score or help teammates score goals. So, that's what my focus is. Today, it was from the start, but whatever's required, I'm willing to do. What about Jude Bellingham today? A goal and an assist are sort of five minutes that turn things. He made an impact, didn't he? Yeah, for sure. It's not surprising. I feel like that's the type of performances that he's capable of and we're for sure going to need similar performances from him. Definitely, the goals from each, if we want to do what we set out to do in this tournament. What's possible when you look at this group? Like I say, you're a third World Cup. When you look around the team and you look around its potential? I have complete confidence. I feel like the team's a hungry team. We're determined. We've got a coach that doesn't rest on anything. So, you know, it's a great opportunity and we have to try and grab it whilst we're here because, you know, we don't know when we're going to come into a tournament in such shape again. So, we're just concentrating on the next game. That's our sole focus. We don't look too far ahead. We concentrate on what we can influence in the now. But, yeah, I'm looking forward to the next game. Great to see you. Keep it up. Well done. Well, your first start at a World Cup. Did you enjoy it? Yeah, of course. Zwicky's a little boy dreaming, obviously. I wanted to start the first two games and luckily I got my opportunity there and luckily we won, which is the most important thing. So, it was nice. What was going through your mind at half-time and around that area when England did need to score at that point with Croatia winning? Just to be positive, just to keep doing what we're doing. I think it might not always come off and it might not look like we're stuck of ideas, but we've got a plan. We know what we're doing. We know that it's about wearing them down, breaking them down and finding gaps and spaces. We were consistent with that throughout the game and we got our chances from it. Sometimes it takes a set piece to score and open up the game and then you can see it more. But, yeah, I think we did really well. We stuck to the game plan, we stuck to our ideas and we won the game because of it. You've been obviously talking a lot about Jude and your partnership and it happened today. How did it go and Jude coming from a deeper position? Yeah, I think we need to get Jude on the ball as much as possible. You can see the quality that he brings to the team and when he's influential and on the ball and making tackles and involved in the game, he has such a big influence on our team and kind of gets us going and gets us playing. I think I'd have liked to get on the ball a bit more today myself, but I think part of that is the way they defended. They tried to block off the spaces and sometimes I was making space for other people, but I think the way we tried to play was to overload their back line and try and cause problems from different gaps and different angles. Yeah, it's difficult to sometimes get in the game, but I thought he was outstanding and took the game by the scruff of the neck. Yeah, it is that, isn't it now? Maybe against teams now in the knockout rounds, the games will open up. Do you see that coming? Thomas said, I think we'll see a better England in the knockout phase. Yeah, of course, we want to keep progressing as a team and keep getting better. Just in terms of the way they play though? Of course, the teams that come and open up and try and beat us and try and play against us, that's where we can be dangerous on the counter-attack or we can be dangerous where they're coming out to press us and we've got the speed, the power and the pace up front. Yeah, all the teams pose different threats and we've got to be able to combat all of them. But yeah, I think we'll look forward to the knockout rounds and I think we can really show our quality. Thank you. Thank you. Well done, Morgan. Good to see you. Thank you. Well, what's the feeling having topped the group and gone through with seven points? I think it's a very good one. It's a nice feeling to win the group, win the game today, clean sheet again, which is important. So, a good day. Yeah, a very good day. An historic day for you as well. First England men's player to play at four World Cups and seven major tournaments. I'm sure you're aware of that bit of history as well. Time flies, doesn't it, to be fair? Yeah, crazy really. But for me, I've always said how honoured and grateful I am to represent my country ever since I made my debut and to still be able to do it now is a dream come true for me really. And to get on and still run around like a little kid when I got some minutes, means just as much now as it did when I made my first cap. So, that's all I've ever tried to do, is do my best for my country and my teammates and everyone to make our nation proud. Jude Bellingham is a big admirer of yours, we know. What do you make of his performance today? Brilliant again. I think he looks in really good condition and really good shape for us. I said a few weeks ago, I felt as though he's a player who has the X Factor and he's starting to show that again today. I thought I think it was a goal and assist, was it? Correct. So, he's making impact on the game and I thought he was excellent again today. What did he bring from that deeper role today as well, do you think? Well, for me, he can do everything. He's an all-round midfielder, he can track back, win tackles and then take it up the other end and score goals. He can do absolutely everything in the game. So, I thought today's all-round performance was brilliant and deserved a goal. As someone so experienced in tournaments, who obviously wants now to finally win this one with England, what has to be better? Was the last 20 minutes an indication of more control in games? How do you view that? Yes, but at the same time, I can also understand a little bit. It can be normal when players want to come on and they want to show what they can do and they want to play and you want to try things as well. But, you're right, we need to control maybe when we go to tune it up better. But, I think we will and I think we just need to make sure that when that happens again, we just make better decisions. That's all it was. I think it was all of us coming on, wanting to make an impression and do stuff. But, yes, controlling games, which we've been really good at, especially even in the Garner game. I thought we controlled the game very well and gave very little away. So, we just need to keep on that and there'll be still loads of different areas that we want to tweak and improve on and get better at, which is normal. But, I still think we're in a good spot. I'm still confident that the lads are in a great spot and feel really good. Training's been excellent as well. So, it's a good feeling around the and we just need to keep pushing and keep giving everything.