Kane backs Tuchel's criticism, says England 'have another level'

England captain Harry Kane has backed manager Thomas Tuchel's criticism of the team's performance in their World Cup quarter-final win over Norway, stating that the side has "another level we can reach" as they aim to win the tournament for the first time since 1966.

The Three Lions needed extra time to beat Norway 2-1 on Saturday and will face Argentina in the semi-finals on Wednesday in Atlanta (20:00 BST, live on BBC One and iPlayer). After the match, Tuchel expressed frustration, saying England "got lucky", were "sloppy", made "a lot of technical mistakes" and were "not fast enough, not repetitive enough".

Kane: Tuchel wants to see training form in matches

Kane, 32, who has scored six goals in the tournament and is England's joint top scorer alongside Jude Bellingham, said Tuchel's frustrations stemmed from the team not replicating their training performances.

"When he sees us train and sees the closeness of us and sees what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and the skills, he just wants to see that version of us," said Kane. "He knows as much as anyone that it's not as simple as that, we're playing against good opposition and good teams. He's trying to drag it out of us and we know ourselves we have another level we can reach."

Kane acknowledged that England have only shown their best form in glimpses. "We haven't seen that yet, we've shown it in glimpses. Against Norway it was in glimpses. But we haven't had full control that we would like and I feel we can have," he said.

Bellingham offers different perspective

While Kane agreed with Tuchel's assessment, Bellingham offered a contrasting view. The midfielder, who has scored twice in England's past two matches, defended his teammates after the quarter-final.

"It's difficult out there, it's a tough shift," said Bellingham. "All the players have put in a tough shift. My thoughts and appreciation goes to the players out there. Maybe he [Tuchel] doesn't know what it's like to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa and Alexander Sorloth. They're not an easy team to play against. I can't speak highly enough of the lads."

England's recent tournament history

England, world champions in 1966, have reached the semi-finals for only the fourth time. They lost at that stage to West Germany in 1990 and to Croatia in 2018, and have also lost in the past two European Championship finals — against Italy on penalties at Wembley in 2021 and against Spain in Berlin two years ago.

Kane, the Bayern Munich striker, reflected on the team's progress. "It's been an extremely successful era of our national team," he said. "Of course, we want to get over the line. That is the missing piece now. We're knocking on the door. We're getting to these semi-finals and finals. It's a big week."

Looking ahead to the semi-final, Kane added: "We'll be playing against one of the best teams in the world in the semi-final, so the most pleasing thing is we are in a semi-final and still feel we can improve. But I don't think it is something to get really over the top about. We are showing a lot of good things."

"We've been together six weeks and shown every bit of desire for the badge and we're going to need an even bigger push now for the last week or so. Ultimately we are in a semi-final of the World Cup and that has not always been the case for this national team, so we have to enjoy it."