Thomas Tuchel has revealed England's straightforward game plan for their World Cup semi-final against Argentina: rely on the brilliance of Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham. The duo have scored all but one of England's goals in the tournament, with Marcus Rashford the only other scorer.
Tuchel's 'simple' formula
After England's quarter-final victory over Norway, where Bellingham scored twice, Tuchel said: “If we are talking about a formula, it’s pretty simple: Put Harry and Jude together, they will do the rest. We need to get better in attacking, to also bring other players into position, but of course they are decisive players.”
Tuchel acknowledged that while he would like to see more involvement from other attackers, he is content to let his two world-class stars decide matches. “They love the responsibility, they have the quality, they show up in decisive moments, so there’s nothing wrong with it, we don’t need to be sorry for that. These two guys play for us and decide the matches for us, it’s impressive.”
Kane and Bellingham's impact
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham have each scored six goals in the World Cup, trailing only Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi on eight. Kane praised Bellingham after the Norway win: “It wasn't our prettiest performance, we know, but we're into a semi-final of a World Cup. The difference again was Jude with the two goals at the perfect time. That is what got over the line.”
England are aiming to reach their first World Cup final since 1966. Argentina stand in their way, having received injury updates on Cuti Romero and Lionel Messi, who played with a busted eye. The match is set to be a tense encounter, with Tuchel confident in his star duo.
