World Cup 2026

[Durhamfootman]

I thought Anderson had his best game yet in this tournament. Second only to Bellingham

Saka made a big difference when he came on at half time. I still worry about his fitness though

Big Dan Burn must be living his best life..... coming on in the dying minutes of big knockout matches in the biggest stadiums when England shift to a back five to protect a lead. He gets cheered by the England fans every time he touches the ball. If you add in his headed goal to set Newcastle on their way to a first trophy in a thousand years, he's had an 18 months that he'll never forget and that I'll bet he thought he would probably never have

[sussexpob]

I thought Anderson had his best game yet in this tournament. Second only to Bellingham

The English press have decided he's the next best thing and just gush over him, meanwhile the rest of the world's press seem to be in a state of utter confusion how a side like Man City paid 120 million for a player who does nothing. I tend to agree with the ROTW, I just don't get it at all. He either holds the ball up for 20 seconds and passes sideways, or goes for the aerial ball into the channel, but I think that has worked once all WC.

Rice was nowhere near ready to play after his illness, but he still picked him, so England were playing with 10 and a half men in that first half, before he replaced him

And yet as soon as he tired out after the first 30 minutes and we no longer had a deep midfield who actually can thread a forward pass, we became abjectly rubbish for most of normal time after. I think that underlines the above point. A 1/3 fit Rice being there and not being there is the difference between controlling a game and us collapsing in the midfield. With a 120 million CM you'd not expect that to be the case.

Rewatch the game and see how many times Anderson tries to get physical with Haaland, and ended on his arse.... lost count. Haaland made him look like he was made of straw.

[alfie]

Guess they call that "winning ugly". England won't care. Tuchel seems realistic about the things that weren't good - even if he has somewhat antagonised Bellingham in the process Good attitude as they will need to up their game on Wednesday. Not that Argentina looked exactly brilliant - they battled to beat Switzerland even 11 against 10.

Bellingham having a wonderful cup. Seems crazy that there was speculation after the squad was announced about whether he or Rogers would be starting ! Not going to complain about the subs , even if I was slightly surprised at one or two at the time: presume fatigue levels had a lot to do with them ; and am glad Gordon and Rice weren't run into the ground because they are essential for rest of this thing. Also happy those yellow cards have all been safely wiped . Reckon Tuchel knows what he's doing - or is very lucky

Be a good time to play the perfect game next up , eh ?

[alfie]

Hey Sussex : what was the discussion in your household re Spidercam Gate ?

[sussexpob]

As for the game itself.....

The England part of me was very frustrated that we controlled the game for about 30 minutes, but then under almost no pressure we somehow managed to make a string of unenforced self-made errors that allowed Norway to create some pressure, and we did not react well to that. It started with that free kick deep in Norway's final third that lead to Guehi and Konza 1-2'ing the ball on the halfway line, Norway pressed, and they kept going back and back and back to the point they end up 75 yards backwards in total panic, the keeper is uncertain, the defence uncertain, and a suicide pass being rolled only a yard away from a Norway striker. It would have been the most calamitous goal in living memory for an England side. We had controlled the game to that point, but it then left us bizarrely rattled.

From there, the next pass back to Pickford he blasted out 10 yards for a throw in from a wild kick, Norway then took the quick throw and it ends with Haaland having the best chacne of the match. I said to a friend Pickford has lost his head, and low and behold a few minutes later his positioning and reaction to the cross ends with it going in. And then Sorloth had a huge chance to end the game and put it over as England just crumbled into the hole of their own self making.

For the first half, Norway left England a huge gap in behind the full backs, but each time it was played into Madueke he had either drifted needlessly offside (one time he would have been on the goalie had he not jumped early), he handballed one controlling a high ball, and then miscontrolled others. We finally by the end of the half conveniently forgot he existed, and went Gordon's side and the goal came from Ryerson again being too far up field, Gordon this time provided the quality missing from Madueke, and Bellingham then got a bit of space and did what Bellingham always does...

But it was the same in the second half. We started in control after scoring, I think Sorloth again took a long pot shot that was going 1 yard over the bar, and Pickford not positioned well off his line then ends up parrying the ball over needlessly, from the corner Norway have a rubbish shot that he fumbles like the Belgian keeper did the other night instead of catching it easily, and then the next corner ends with him pushing a save back into the middle and Norway scoring. Three errors from Pickford that should have sent us home, three errors that put huge pressure and forced other errors leading to a goal. You could see on his face he was gone, I would have subbed him off. But no, the referee ends with arguably the worst VAR decision of the tournament, England end up surviving the wave and coming out the other side, and a clearly burned out Norway team having to delve into a miles inferior bench end up then losing the game.

England were unbelievably lucky. They should have been going home.

The Norwegian in me is upset about the Haaland goal, as its a scandal. But its hard to linger on that, we had a great tournament and will go home with pride having made a huge impact.

[sussexpob]

Hey Sussex : what was the discussion in your household re Spidercam Gate ?

The comms said it seemed to hit a cable, but 7 of us in the room concluded we couldn't see it on the footage. From the angle behind the keeper the ball looks like it might dip suddenly, but from the other angle it looks fine.

[sussexpob]

Bellingham having a wonderful cup. Seems crazy that there was speculation after the squad was announced about whether he or Rogers would be starting ! Not going to complain about the subs , even if I was slightly surprised at one or two at the time: presume fatigue levels had a lot to do with them ; and am glad Gordon and Rice weren't run into the ground because they are essential for rest of this thing. Also happy those yellow cards have all been safely wiped . Reckon Tuchel knows what he's doing - or is very lucky Be a good time to play the perfect game next up , eh ?

I have said many times in the past that I am not a Gordon fan, but I think he's been very good last two games. Madueke on the other hand has been pants, but Saka isn't 100% fit and is being held back. I don't see the hype with Anderson, but Rice is arguably our key man because he's the only guy behind Bellingham who can up the tempo with quality, we need him fighting fit to have a chance, and he's generally been good all tournament. Kane was quiet last night, but give him chances, he will bang.

Our main concern is the defence. Guehi and Konza do not seem to understand each other at all, and you feel that lack of gel in their communication. I'd drop Konza for Burn. Reece James is a quality player, but he looks miles away from full fitness. Spence came on and was good yesterday, he can be wildly inconsistent but he brings an energy and directness that is useful. I wish Tuchel had the balls to drop Pickford. O'Reilly has been OK, but he still looks a couple of years development away from being world class.

[alfie]

Hey Sussex : what was the discussion in your household re Spidercam Gate ?

The comms said it seemed to hit a cable, but 7 of us in the room concluded we couldn't see it on the footage. From the angle behind the keeper the ball looks like it might dip suddenly, but from the other angle it looks fine.

Ah thanks for that. I couldn't see it either but a lot of fuss on Aussie media here - and a lot of "we wuz robbed" stuff on facebook

If neither the ref nor the VAR snicko thing detected anything I reckon there was no case to answer ; but good to hear some Norwegian fans are being rational about it.

[sussexpob]

As for Bellingham, I laugh looking back only a few months ago to England fans saying he shouldn't play. Shows how many Englnd fans don't follow foreign leagues, because he's legit world class, and arguably now the best England player of my lifetime. That touch on the right where he beat two Norway players is something only a truly elite player would consider, and his first goal was pure class.

Good to see England fans finally giving him the respect he deserves. And the best thing is, he's a big game player. We cant say that of many English players in the past.

[sussexpob]

Ah thanks for that. I couldn't see it either but a lot of fuss on Aussie media here - and a lot of "we wuz robbed" stuff on facebook If neither the ref nor the VAR snicko thing detected anything I reckon there was no case to answer ; but good to hear some Norwegian fans are being rational about it.

Mostly. Dagbladet is going with the "we woz robbed" narrative, but its the trashy tabloid equivalent of the Norwegian press always drumming up nonsense. The manager also thought it hit something, but generally the opinion (shared by my family in Norway) is that the footage is inconclusive.

[Durhamfootman]

Bellingham having a wonderful cup. Seems crazy that there was speculation after the squad was announced about whether he or Rogers would be starting

maybe that's a part of the reason why he's having such a good WC. I think Tuchel was pretty smart, tbh, putting a seed of doubt in his mind, letting him know that he wouldn't just walk into the side no matter what, fit or half fit, in form or out of it. There's never been any doubt about his talent

[Durhamfootman]

Hey Sussex : what was the discussion in your household re Spidercam Gate ?

The comms said it seemed to hit a cable, but 7 of us in the room concluded we couldn't see it on the footage. From the angle behind the keeper the ball looks like it might dip suddenly, but from the other angle it looks fine.

Ah thanks for that. I couldn't see it either but a lot of fuss on Aussie media here - and a lot of "we wuz robbed" stuff on facebook

If neither the ref nor the VAR snicko thing detected anything I reckon there was no case to answer ; but good to hear some Norwegian fans are being rational about it.

if you want to know whether it touched or not, Rooney said it did........ so it clearly didn't, because Rooney is clueless as a pundit

[sussexpob]

Meanwhile, it seems Embolo's red card has caused a storm with people claiming Argentina are being given special treatment all tournament.

It was a pathetic and clear theatrical dive, so he can't complain about the yellow card for it. But one does wonder why we are nearly 100 games into the tournament with 15 dives a game like this occuring, it was moments after Switzerland rocked Argentina and had them on the rack that a referee finally decided to implement the new rule.

As always, its consistency that is the problem. And the fact that consistency always favours the bigger team

[sussexpob]

if you want to know whether it touched or not, Rooney said it did........ so it clearly didn't, because Rooney is clueless as a pundit

The Norway press are waiting for his row down the Thames with glee....

[Durhamfootman]

Our main concern is the defence. Guehi and Konza do not seem to understand each other at all, and you feel that lack of gel in their communication. I'd drop Konza for Burn. Reece James is a quality player, but he looks miles away from full fitness. Spence came on and was good yesterday, he can be wildly inconsistent but he brings an energy and directness that is useful. I wish Tuchel had the balls to drop Pickford. O'Reilly has been OK, but he still looks a couple of years development away from being world class.

Defence has been my main concern throughout, and it's hard to put a finger on exactly what is wrong because Konsa and Guehi were looking really solid in qualification, so it isn't that they don't know each other

for what it's worth, my view is that replacing Livramento with another centre back, who is yet to feature, feels to me like Tuchel's biggest mistake. Once James got injured, England have been caught a bit short and keep having to mix and match full backs, which in turn perhaps destabilises the centre backs who then have had to be mixed and matched themselves to compensate. I can only speculate why Chalobah was selected ahead of a recognised specialist FB. Perhaps Tuchel just didn't want TAA anywhere near the squad Tuchel has been left totally reliant on centre backs and midfielders who can fill in at FB when necessary and I'm sure this has left England's defence a little exposed at times. It's not a settled defence, it's a bit more wing and a prayer

I think Burn is fine as a left sided CB in a back 5 with a lead to defend, he was great v Mexico in that role and brought some reassurance last night, but I'm not convinced he should replace Konsa, who was playing as RB for half of the game, in a back 4.