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Full ratings for every England player after the Three Lions get lucky against Norway.
Thomas Tuchel described England’s win as “lucky” and “sloppy.” Norway head coach Ståle Solbakken complained – perhaps with some justification – about the refereeing decisions that led to his side’s quarter-final exit. Most England fans probably don’t care too much either way: By hook, crook and maybe aerial camera cable, the Three Lions have reached another semi-final, their fourth in the last five major tournaments.
The win over Mexico in the last 16 had been heroic, but this was a rather less edifying spectacle. England didn’t have every key decision go their way but surely got the rub of the green, and seemed determined to do whatever they could to ramp up the tension in the sweltering Miami heat. They won the hard way. Yet again.
Such was the uncomposed nature of the performance that there will inevitably be thoughts of tactical tweaks and positional reshuffles for the impending semi-final against reigning champions Argentina – but who gave Tuchel good cause to reconsider their place, and who impressed? We’ve rated every England player out of 10 below.
England’s defence passes the test – but Pickford struggles again
Jordan Pickford broke Peter Shilton's record for most England appearances at a World Cup against Norwayplaceholder image
Jordan Pickford broke Peter Shilton's record for most England appearances at a World Cup against Norway | Getty Images
Jordan Pickford – 5/10: Pickford’s superb display against Mexico quelled any concerns about his previously rather unconvincing form, but those worries will resurface after another shaky performance. Pickford misjudged Andreas Schjelderup cross-cum-shot and allowed it to drift unopposed into the corner of his goal, made a hash of a routine save from an Erling Haaland header, and looked rather less certain when dealing with crosses. At the end of the day, however, he did just about enough to prevent a second Norway goal.
Nico O’Reilly – 7: O’Reilly normally looks better going forward than he does at the back, but he put in perhaps his best defensive shift for England yet, pinning Alexander Sørloth down, winning his one-on-ones and maintaining his positional discipline well. The trade-off was that he didn’t manage to get much going down the wing, and almost never surged forward to support Anthony Gordon.
Marc Guéhi – 5: It’s rare for Guéhi to be beaten one-on-one more than once or twice in the match, but on this occasion the Manchester City centre-back won just one of his five duels on the ground or in the air, and he struggled against the high ball. He did, at least, find himself in the right place at the right time just often enough and was his usual calm self on the ball.
John Stones – 8: Like his defensive partner, Stones struggled against crosses – especially from dead ball situations – but his positioning was absolutely immaculate when the ball remained on the floor and the way he read Haaland’s movement to cut out a potentially lethal through ball in the first half stood out as an especially fine piece of defending. Stones deserves a lot of the credit for keeping Haaland quiet in Miami.
Ezri Konsa – 8: Visibly shattered by the time he was hauled off towards the end of normal time, Konsa earned his rest. He won every single one-on-one situation he found himself in, didn’t miss a tackle or interception, and only lost possession twice all match. This was an undemonstrative but excellent performance from England’s makeshift right-back.
Bellingham’s brilliance make the difference once more
Jude Bellingham has doubled his tally of England goals in the last six gamesplaceholder image
Jude Bellingham has doubled his tally of England goals in the last six games | Getty Images
Declan Rice – 5: Rice was struggling with a sickness bug in the build-up and simply didn’t look like himself. He passed the ball around comfortably enough but the energy was evidently lacking, his set-piece delivery was poor and he barely made a defensive contribution of any form before he was justifiably hooked at half-time. Rice probably should have been rested, and England will hope that he’s hale and heart in time for the semi-final.
Elliot Anderson – 7: Anderson certainly wasn’t lacking in energy, and was just about the only player on the pitch who appeared unaffected by the heat – not that he wasn’t beaten on the run once or twice, and not that he didn’t make a few misjudgements. The good heavily outweighed the bad, however, and Anderson forced nine turnovers while running himself so deep into the ground that they’ll need a team of specialists to dig him out of the Hard Rock Stadium’s turf.
Anthony Gordon – 7: Another energetic display from the newly-signed Barcelona winger and one that might have ended up being ineffective had he not showed tremendous persistence to dig the ball out of a hole before he teed up Jude Bellingham’s equaliser. That’s the third match in a row in which Gordon has created a goal through sheer bloody-mindedness.
Jude Bellingham – 9: Truth be told, Bellingham was quiet for most of Saturday’s match, marked out of the game for long stretches by a Norwegian defence that clearly paid him special attention – but it didn’t matter. This is a player who always seems to find a way to rise to the big occasion. He took his first goal with the consummate skill of a seasoned striker and was in the right place at the right time for the second, as he so very often is. Just as was the case at Euro 2024, the Three Lions owe their progress to Bellingham’s relentless brilliance.
Noni Madueke – 4: England started the match by launching a series of direct diagonal passes to Madueke, but when those came to nothing they seemed to abandon the idea entirely and the unfortunate winger became a completely peripheral figure as Norway began to defender deeper before half-time. Not a player who knows how to beat the low block, and Tuchel probably had to take him off.
Harry Kane – 5: Kane took his (rightly) disallowed goal quite beautifully, but was otherwise isolated up front and atypically ineffective on the ball when he dropped back into midfield to pick up possession. This was a far less convincing performance than usual from Kane, not that it will make any difference to his place in the team going forward. Even great strikers have bad days. Just ask Norway’s number nine.
Spence and Burn impress again from the bench
Djed Spence has been the subject of rumoured transfer interest from Evertonplaceholder image
Djed Spence has been the subject of rumoured transfer interest from Everton | Getty Images
Eberechi Eze (on for Rice 46’) – 6: Eze quite often looked as though he was on the verge of doing something special and made several quite menacing forward runs, but the end product was lacking on this occasion even if the intent was evident and the ideas were all there. Also put in a solid shift off the ball, forcing several important turnovers to help keep Norway pinned down during extra time.
Bukayo Saka (on for Madueke 46’) – 7: Saka may not yet be fully fit but it feels like he’s growing into the tournament regardless. The Arsenal wideman was responsible for many of England’s most threatening moments, particularly a dangerous cross which evaded everyone towards the end of normal time and a snap shot from a tight angle which forced Ørjan Nyland into a smart save.
Reece James (on for Gordon 71’) – 6: The returning James was expected to start but had to settle for a substitute role in which he was shuffled between right-back and central midfield as the changes kept coming. It didn’t seem to faze him, and he cut a figure of considerable calm on the ball while handling Antonio Nusa’s pace well at the back.
Djed Spence (on for O’Reilly 86’) – 8: For the second game in succession, Spence put in a huge shift as a substitute at left-back, not only shutting the opposing right flank down for long periods but also surging into the box quite superbly to win a penalty which was somewhat harshly overturned. Regardless of the rights or wrongs of that decision, this was a colossal cameo.
Morgan Rogers (on for Konsa 89’) – 6: The story was much the same as it was during Rogers’ previous substitute appearances – there was a lot of huff and puff and no questioning the work rate, but he wasn’t able to find routes to goal or ways to make a clear-cut difference to the outcome.
Dan Burn (on for Bellingham 111’) – 7: Burn only touched the ball four times after coming on, but all of those touches made a difference and his roared celebration after clearing the lines with a towering header at the death provided the match with one of its vibiest and most memorable moments.
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