England answered Thomas Tuchel’s recent criticism of their positional discipline with a commanding 3-0 victory over Costa Rica at the Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. Following a narrow win against New Zealand where the head coach called out the squad’s freestyle approach, Jude Bellingham took control of the No. 10 role and dictated the attack directly behind Harry Kane.
The match broke a notorious streak of poor chemistry between the two forwards. Before this warm-up fixture, Bellingham and Kane had struggled to connect, managing just one open-play goal across 39 appearances and floundering together during Euro 2024. This time, they intentionally managed their spacing to avoid crowding each other out. Bellingham set the physical tone immediately with a block tackle within eight seconds of kickoff and later orchestrated the sequence that earned Anthony Gordon a penalty goal, according to a detailed match report.
The cohesive performance effectively ends the debate over who will start behind Kane in England’s impending World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas. Morgan Rogers had been heavily favored for the spot due to his out-of-possession work rate, but he was relegated to a 60th-minute substitute appearance in Orlando. Rogers went on to miss a clear scoring opportunity in the 76th minute. Tuchel verified his satisfaction with the team’s intensity and specifically praised the new combination play during his post-match press conference.