Sir Geoff Hurst has backed England hero Jude Bellingham amid the row over Thomas Tuchel’s criticism of the team.
Sir Geoff, 84, paid tribute to Bellingham, 23, the man of the hour with two goals in the 2-1 quarter final defeat of Norway. Jude’s double strike took us into the semi-final showdown against Argentina tomorrow, and he replied to Tuchel’s post match criticism of the team with the response ‘whatever’.
The 1966 hat trick hero thought the Brummie ace’s response to criticism from Tuchel was ‘fantastic’. He told the Mirror: “I loved the fact that Thomas Tuchel said we were not at our best and that is exciting.
“Jude Bellingham’s response of ‘whatever’ did make me laugh, that was so funny. I love that attitude, it was a fantastic response. It would not be a shock to me now if we won the World Cup. The four semi finalists are the teams that most people predicted.
“But we again face a fantastic team and one of the hardest in world football, then and now: Argentina. We will be ready for them.”
Sir Geoff was speaking at a party in London organised by World Cup sponsor Budweiser. He recalled how the 1966 England team beat Argentina 1-0 in a tense quarter final, with midfielder Antonio Rattin sent off.
It was typical of the ‘bad blood’ between the two countries which has grown since then and the 1982 Falklands conflict. Sir Geoff added: “They are a really tough opponent, no doubt about that.
“But I am sure England and Thomas Tuchel will have done their homework and looked at Argentina’s previous matches. No international team has won a World Cup with a foreign manager. If we do win it with a German manager, we will laud him as the greatest since Sir Alf Ramsey 60 years ago.”
Looking at the 2026 England squad, Sir Geoff said: “I think they have a good team spirit. Tuchel talks about the team and that without question is the most important aspect of winning anything in any walk of life, but particularly in football. They have that and I think that is the most fundamental aspect of what we had in 1966.”
When asked whether football could finally be coming home, he told the Mirror: “I do think it is coming home. As a player you have to be positive, you have to have that to achieve what I have in the game. So the answer to “Can we do it?” is yes. It is categorically yes. I have said this for some time.”