World Cup 2026: England 4-2 Croatia – Thomas Tuchel tells England players to ‘do it’ in half-time team talk.

In a separate interview with BBC Sport, the Bayern Munich striker added: “The boss said at half-time, take the game completely to them.

“You saw us at our best with or without the ball and in the second half we could have scored three or four goals in those 20 minutes.

“We did what we had to do and finished the game well in the end.”

Asked what was in store for his team at half-time, Tuchel told ITV: “Even if we lose, it won’t change how I feel about the last 17 days, but let’s do it our way.”

“We were very focused on keeping the result. We were the team behind seven and we didn’t defend. If the result doesn’t go our way, we want to play our way.

“I tried to encourage them to go for it.”

The half-time team talk seemed to have an immediate impact as Bellingham scored within two minutes of the restart to beat England 3-2.

The Real Madrid midfielder told ITV: “It wasn’t one of those big dramas or shouting, it was what the team needed.

“We have a mature team with great leaders in there. Everyone knew the level we were going to reach. The start of the second half gave us a big platform.”