Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford broke a World Cup record and then revealed the secret to Jude Bellingham's success after the Real Madrid star scored both goals in England's 2-1 comeback win over Norway in the quarter-finals.
Pickford's Record-Breaking Night
On a night when he won his 90th cap for England – all while with Everton, surpassing Phil Jagielka's previous best of 40 – Pickford overtook Peter Shilton to play his 18th World Cup finals match, the most for any England player.
England faced adversity in Miami as Norway took a 36th-minute lead through a fluke goal by Andreas Schjelderup, whose mishit cross flew into the roof of the net off the post. However, Jude Bellingham equalised two minutes into first-half stoppage time, driving forward in the area and beating Orjan Nyland with a left-foot finish after being picked out by Anthony Gordon's pass.
Norway had a second goal by Torbjorn Heggem ruled out after VAR intervened, with referee Clement Turpin consulting the pitchside monitor after Erling Haaland shoved Elliot Anderson in the build-up. The match went into extra time.
Bellingham's Winner
Three minutes into the additional period, in energy-sapping conditions with 35-degree heat and intense humidity, Bellingham struck the winner. He reacted first to the rebound and hooked in a right-foot shot after Nyland could only parry a long-range effort from substitute Morgan Rogers.
Speaking pitchside to ITV's Gabriel Clarke, England manager Thomas Tuchel admitted his team were “got lucky” and that “there are a lot of things to do better” after a “sloppy” display with “a lot of technical mistakes.” However, he attributed progress to the semi-finals against Argentina in Atlanta as down to “pure mentality.”
Pickford on Team Spirit
Pickford echoed the manager's sentiments, saying: “We’ve got that togetherness, that team spirit, that commitment. We drive ourselves. We never say never. The manager wants us to improve going forward — and yeah, we definitely want that ourselves — but when the going gets tough, we’re resilient and we dig in as a team.”
On match-winner Bellingham, who has now scored six goals in the tournament to match captain Harry Kane, Pickford added: “His mentality is what puts him on that level. He has been top level, and long may it continue.”
