Jude Bellingham has now reached England’s landmark and is ‘reaching his full potential’.
That’s the view of manager Thomas Tuchel, who says the link between Bellingham and Harry Kane could be England’s path to World Cup glory.
Bellingham will earn his 50th cap against Ghana, an impressive feat considering he only turned 23 on June 29.
Real Madrid star Bellingham was sensational against Croatia and his link-up with Kane was noted by FIFA’s technical research group. FIFA analyst Paolo Wanchope described Bellingham as “very smart” and said Kane’s deep drop ability was “something we’ve never seen before” in terms of their movement.
England clearly have two of the best players in the world at the moment and Tuchel praised how they came together and how they got the best out of Bellingham.
Get the latest 2026 World Cup news in your inbox with our Make Football Great Again newsletter
Tuchel said Declan Rice and Elliott Anderson were also important, but most notably he also praised the way Bellingham bought into the team’s ethics, which may shatter any remaining notions of doubt. Three Lions manager Tuchel said: “Overall we saw a strong performance from the team and we saw Jude maximize his potential and give his all.
“There’s no question that games and competition like this bring out the best in him, but the connection between Jude and Harry, the connection between Jude and Declan and Elliott needed to be improved. It needed to be improved, it needed to be improved and this is a big step.”
“Jude was totally on board with our ideas, totally committed to the team idea and team spirit, and played in perfect coordination with everyone else. He was very important and very dependable.”
England played really well against Croatia, with a second half performance that was as good as any we’ve seen so far at this World Cup. However, Tuchel admitted the “difficult part” will be making sure they do so from the start against Ghana, rather than needing to pick themselves up after a sloppy first half as they did against Croatia.
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane have a good understanding (Image: Photo by Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images))
“It’s a difficult part to keep raising the level, but first of all I’m very happy because we found an answer to adversity. We conceded a goal in a very tricky moment, the last shot of the first half, but then we answered with our best 25 minutes or our best 30 minutes when we were very strong. The team knows that and we showed it,” Tuchel said.
“Obviously, we look at the physical input, we see the ball being won, we see the chances, and there are still things we need to improve on. I think it’s important to learn from all of that, and the great thing is that we don’t have to fix anything that wasn’t very good. We just need to be better at what we do from the first half.”
“The problem is that we are expecting a completely different opponent and playing style. I expect more possession. I expect Ghana to rely on counter-attacks because they are very physical, very fast and dangerous on counter-attacks.
“There will be different themes to tackle without losing momentum, without losing passion, and still have the spirit and courage enough to tackle it.”
Thomas Tuchel wants a more complete performance for England vs. Ghana (Image: Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
However, Tuchel insisted that there is still a lot of room for improvement, especially in defense. They scored two goals and looked rusty and nervous against Croatia. Since then, the aim has been to resolve it in training, with Tuchel even claiming that conceding the goal against Croatia may have been a blessing in disguise.
Tuchel added: “We need to do better. Defensively, I think we dropped a bit too much from the central block to the low and deep blocks. That’s not a problem in itself, but we were a bit too early. Maybe it was good to concede the goal, because it tells us ‘don’t do it again’. It doesn’t make sense, it’s not our problem and we didn’t play to our strengths.”
“So we need to manage those ball wins better, and there are things we need to improve on in possession as well. When do we accelerate the game, how do we give the player with the ball more options in the gaps and show a little more confidence in what makes us strong?”
“That’s the great thing about it. We don’t have to invent anything new. Of course there are things we can improve on and the team knows that. There are always things we can improve on in any game. But I also made it very clear to the team that we deserved this win.”
“We got a well-deserved win against a top-10 opponent in the World Cup (11th when Croatia played England), and we have a lot of positives to take, and we now expect a very different team and a very different set-up. And we need to improve our structure, especially when we have the ball, so that we can defend before counter-attacks become dangerous.”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive Mirror Football content every day. Community members also receive special offers, promotions, and advertisements from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can always check out. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Come on, England! Pick up your mirror on Tuesday and get a free £3 shop bet at William Hill
The whole country is watching with bated breath as England take on their next rivals Ghana in the 2026 World Cup. We’re offering a £3 free bet valid on all football matches, including the big matches, in your favorite paper on Tuesday 23 June 2026!
Find out more.
