England hail incredible World Cup resilience as epic Argentina semifinal awaits
MIAMI — England have been nasty and horrible to play against at this 2026 World Cup and that is exactly what they needed to make the final step to win a major tournament.
After a grueling quarterfinal win against Norway on Saturday in the extreme heat and humidity of Miami, Thomas Tuchel lambasted his team for their poor performance.
But he praised their mentality.
“This is pure mentality,” Tuchel told ITV in the UK. “How can you ask about mentality now? This is pure mentality, you can bottle it up and sell it. It’s the quality of our games. That’s it. It has nothing to do with mentality.”
Essentially England, once again, found a way to drag themselves through just like they did against DR Congo and Mexico in the knockout rounds of this World Cup. It hasn’t been pretty but they’re digging deep.
The way they sang Wonderwall together with their fans at the final whistle, which has now become their team anthem, told you everything you need to know about this team and their country. England fans love this team. It represents them. No matter how they play, England’s fans know this team will never give up.
All week in Miami England fans have told me it’s coming home. Then when you ask why they simply said it feels different. They can’t explain the details. But they know it. After multiple trips to the semifinals and finals of major tournaments in the last decade, vibe is different this time.
🏴🎸 ¡SUENA “WONDERWALL: INGLATERRA A SEMIS 🦁🔥
‘The Three Lions’ tuvieron que sudar frío, pero el boleto ya es suyo y la locura británica se desató por completo en Miami con el himno de Oasis retumbando a todo pulmón. 🎶🍻
¿Tiene este equipo lo necesario para “regresar la… pic.twitter.com/iEMK2UM9BG
— Telemundo Deportes (@TelemundoSports) July 12, 2026
Everyone is together.
England full back Djed Spence came on and played a starring role off the bench against Norway to help drag England through to the final four. He charged 50 yards to close down the goalkeeper and almost forced a goal. He dribbled 30 yards and almost scored a beauty. He launched into tackles and headers and helped drag his teammates over the line just when their energy was running out.
His performance typified the togetherness and toughness in this England squad as they aim to go all the way and win a first World Cup since 1966.
Asked by Pro Soccer Talk about the resilience and unity England have, Spence did not hold back about how tight this team is.
“We’ve got great character, great team spirit. That is what we’ve been building over the last couple of months. We are a family, we are altogether and we will die for each other,” Spence said.
Burn ‘buzzing’ to advance to World Cup semifinals
Dan Burn answered questions after England’s 2-1 win over Norway, describing the experience playing on that stage in the heat.
Dan Burn, another squad player who has played a key role at vital moments for England at this World Cup as he celebrated a late headed clearance against Norway like a goal, summed up the spirit within this team.
“You can talk about brotherhood and character a lot but until you actually see it out on the pitch it’s hard to believe in it. I think we’ve done that in the last two games, shown that we can see games out and getting through games when we’re not playing very well. We are excited for the semifinal,” Burn told Pro Soccer Talk.
Bellingham, England dig deep to get past Norway
Joe Prince-Wright shares postgame thoughts of England’s 2-1 win over Norway to move on to the World Cup semifinals behind a Jude Bellingham brace.
England’s goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also spoke about the resilience his side have shown to get this far in the tournament as the Three Lions are clearly wiling to do the dirty work and whatever it takes to get over the line.
“You’ve sometimes got to get in the trenches and you’ve got to be resilient, and you’ve got to roll your sleeves up. That’s what we’ve got, we’ve got that togetherness, that team spirit and commitment. We pride ourselves on that. We will never say never,” Pickford explained.
“The manager wants us to improve moving forward and we want that ourselves. But when the going gets tough we are resilient and dig in as a team, make blocks, make headers, make saves and everyone is putting the effort in to get the result. Everyone can see that.”
England will need all of the resiliency they’ve shown in the tournament so far, and then some, to get past Argentina in the semifinal.
At this tournament Argentina have been a similarly scrappy team who leave it all out there and have found a way to win somehow (and usually thanks to Lionel Messi’s magic) to reach the final four.
Add in the history of this fixture, the rivalry between the two countries and what’s on the line in Atlanta on Wednesday and it’s all about who is willing to do whatever it takes to reach the final.
“Watching England in previous tournaments it was something Gareth Southgate instilled as well,” England fan Colin Todman said in Miami when asked about the unity of this England team. “You look at the leadership team of Harry Kane and the senior players, they get all the players together after the game, come to the fans. Everyone is on side. You can see that camaraderie, that togetherness. It’s the World Cup, right? Should we have won tonight, no idea really! But we got the luck on our side, we are through. The togetherness is definitely there. You can see that.”
Pickford talks standards set by Tuchel, England
Jordan Pickford spoke with the press after England’s win against Norway 2-1 in extra time, discussing the standards set by the team and the way they’ve worked through adversity to reach the semifinal.
England have not been at their best throughout this World Cup but they’re tougher than before.
That is the difference this time and why they have the belief they can go all the way.
They also know they can still improve and play much better. And that’s not a bad spot to be in after reaching a World Cup semifinal.
“You’ve got to always want to improve. To get to another semifinal is great and we always want to keep improving,” Pickford explained to Pro Soccer Talk. “That is the standard the manager sets and that is what we set as a team ourselves.”
England are a total team and everyone is together and willing to do whatever it takes to reach a first final in 60 years. That is easy to say but England’s players are actually doing it.
