Harry Kane has accused media members of trying to divide the England camp over the influence of Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham’s interview.
Manager Harry Kane has accused broadcasters of trying to “create division” at the World Cup following a backlash over Thomas Tuchel and Jude Bellingham’s post-match comments.
England defeated Norway in the quarter-finals thanks to Jude Bellingham’s two goals and scored the winning goal in extra time. This set up a semi-final against Argentina, but although the players were in a jubilant mood, manager Thomas Tuchel was not too impressed.
The German claimed he was “lucky” to win the match and criticized his performance, but when the comment was made to Bellingham, Bellingham replied: “I don’t care. It’s difficult over there.”
The England star was then asked again about his comments and Tuchel replied: “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions.”
Kane defended everyone involved in the camp, claiming the headlines surrounding Bellingham and Tuchel were “made up to be more than they really are”.
The striker told the BBC: “When you’re playing a game like that and you get asked five minutes after the final whistle, he (Bellingham) didn’t really understand what the manager was saying, but what do you say to Jude? We’ve just been through a battle. It was really tough out there.”
“It’s easy to try to create this division. It seems like the British mentality, the British way of doing things in major tournaments. But it’s quite the opposite. This group is why we are here because of our unity, not just the players, coaches and staff. Sometimes it can seem like things are more than they really are.”
Get the latest 2026 World Cup news in your inbox with our Make Football Great Again newsletter
The comments made by the England manager and one of his star players after the match are brought to the fore given previous issues between the two sides. Tuchel had previously ignored Bellingham, but was later forced to refrain from commenting on Bellingham’s on-field behavior, describing it as “disgusting”.
Kane is not shy about criticizing the comments of pundits he disagrees with, and he did so at Euro 2024. The Three Lions captain insisted the former England international and now pundit should “remember what it’s like to put on the shirt” before criticizing Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer for their comments.
Lineker and Shearer analyzed one of their performances during an interview with the BBC, and Lineker later used an expletive to describe the team’s performance on the podcast ‘Rest is Football’.
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 check it out whenever you like. If you are interested, please read our privacy notice.
Upgrade your World Cup TV setup with Sky Glass ‘designed for soccer’

From £6
sky
Get the deal here
Shoppers can now upgrade to a Sky smart TV ‘designed for football’ from £6 a month when used with a Sky TV and Netflix package.


