Mike Grella and Troy Deeney call out England for their overall performance at the 2026 World Cup so far after reaching the semi final.
Prior to the game getting underway, Mike Grella, on punditry duties for CBS Sports Golazo, said he expected Erling Haaland to have success against England’s defenders and that Norway shouldn’t be overlooked.
Troy Deeney meanwhile said it should be an easy game and that man for man England are better in every department.
The unimpressed duo Grella and Deeney then expressed their concern, that they’re in trouble, that they’ve been ‘so bad’ throughout the tournament, and doesn’t rate their chances highly going forward.
“I don’t think they have any pressure… they made Brazil look average.”@MikeGrella10 explains why Norway should not be overlooked in their game against England 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/HmK5TyrDO9
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 11, 2026
“We talk about Gabriel, maybe the best centerback in the world… he dunked on him bad.. what’s he going to do to John Stones and Marc Guéhi?@MikeGrella10 expects Erling Haaland to have success against England’s defenders ⚽️ pic.twitter.com/66ehvKx70x
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 11, 2026
Mike Grella said: “The good news is you have two games left, right?
“Semi-final, final, and you can actually win a World Cup first time since 1966. That’s a positive. You’re competing, you’re finding ways to win.
“Bad news is you’re not very good at football. You’re not good with the ball, you’re not good in transition, you lose space, unbelievable spaces in between the lines.
“It was, not by my standard, because I’m happy with whoever wins, but by English standards, a really poor performance, really poor performance.
“The impressive part is how poor you are and able to get away with the win.
“It’s like having the world’s ugliest daughter and saying, you’re so beautiful, baby. You’re beautiful. Listen to what anyone’s telling you, you’re beautiful.
“It’s just, let’s call it spade to spade here. That was embarrassing the way you got through that game.
“I mean, you made Norway look like world beaters in that game.
“So the credit is two more games, you can win a World Cup. Credit to you. You have unbelievable superstars in the team and in Kane and Bellingham and they showed that but through facets of the game not good enough at all.
“By the way first ball hits the camera right right. We’re chipping the ball now. There’s not a chip in the ball on Tuesday to put the chip in on Wednesday to take it out on Thursday and put it back in. Right. OK fine.
“This, the goal comes from the goalkeeper which I called him out before the game. You know we’re saying always so great.
“Troy says no, he’s the second goalkeeper. He knocks the ball down into it. And then what about the goal taken away for Norway as well? So a lot of talking points, but again, you’re there. So congratulations, I suppose.”
“The good news is you have two games left… and you can actually win a World Cup. The bad news is you’re not very good at football.” 👀@MikeGrella10 calls out England for their overall performance vs. Norway 🏴 pic.twitter.com/yigQIxjXYC
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 12, 2026
“Aside from Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, the camera and the referee… you guys are in trouble.”@MikeGrella10 doubles down that France and Spain are levels above this England side 🇫🇷🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/oaHFIalsvN
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 12, 2026
Nigel Reo-Coker said: “England were always going to be judged facing Argentina, Spain or France. Those were the games generally they were going to be judged for this World Cup where we came through.
“Because this is why we brought Thomas Tuchel in for these teams to win something, so until we see them perform against those nations, that’s when we can say we’re really England.”
Troy Deeney: “That’s a very fair comment. One of the comments that just came up on there was like, let’s play great football and go out to keep these guys happy. Pin that. Keep that saved.
“Because the same people that are saying that, when we go out, we’ll start saying, Tuchel’s got to go, this player’s terrible, this player’s that.
“Our job is to watch the game, analyse the game, even though, as you guys see, I’m passionate about England winning.
“I can’t come in here and go, ‘oh, we’re great, we’re through’. Who cares? It’s a three-minute segment. We don’t have to be here for an hour. We are not a dominant team. We got lucky in certain facets of the game today.
“If the ball hit the wire as it says, that’s lucky. The goal that they scored, we get very lucky because it is a flop. Absolutely, it’s a flop.
“I don’t care, by the way, because we came out on the other side of it, so I don’t care. But that is a flop.
“And then also, the second goal, which ends up being a winning goal, the keeper has a stinker.
“So in certain aspects, you’ve got to be lucky, and we have been lucky.
“My worry is, can you be lucky all the way to the final? I don’t believe you can.”
Nigel: “Well, like you said, you know, you’ve got a face. They will not be able to get away with a game like that if it is Argentina that goes through. Just say looking ahead or anything like that, if it is.
“And then if you get to the final, whether it’s Spain or France, a performance like that is not going to be good enough.”
Mike Grella when the hosts brought up his comment of it being ’embarrassing for England to play against Spain or France if they didn’t make it to the final’: “Oh, I think that you don’t have the tools to play against those two teams.
“I think you’re universe apart from the other teams. It’ll be like uh Spain-Belgium 2-1, looks like a close game on paper, but it was never a close game.
“There’s so many, for me, there’s so many faces of football. Football is the most beautiful game in the world because there’s not just attack-defend and mid, there’s just so many variables, right?
“And Spain and France are so many levels above England in every single way. It’s frightening. Aside from Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham, the camera and the referee, you guys are in trouble if you go against those teams.”
Troy Deeney: “I disagree with you on that in one bit. We’ve struggled when it’s about dominating the ball and breaking the team down.
“Whether it’s France, whether it’s Spain, on the other side of the bracket, we won’t have the ball. We have to sit in a shape and we get to hit on the character, which is what I believe we do great.
“Now, not saying we’ll beat them, but I actually think it’ll be a closer game because all the pressure’s on the other team. Everyone’s expecting France or Spain to win.
“Our job is to be defensively solid and make those moments count, which in this tournament we have the moments we’ve done well with Bellingham or Kane.”
“This is where I actually think it plays in Erling Haaland’s favor.”@T_Deeney takes a closer look at England’s average positions at the World Cup and how Norway can take advantage 👀 pic.twitter.com/9xKaFccnlK
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 11, 2026
“Another 4.5/10 performance from England… We’ve been so bad.”@T_Deeney has plenty to say on England after their first half performance vs. Norway 🏴 pic.twitter.com/4GVpwZS0d7
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 11, 2026
On the first half, Deeney said: “And to keep in theme with what we’ve done after every one, another four and a half out of 10 performance from England. So many question marks, so many labouring performances.
“But again, every time in this tournament, we’ve needed moments from two very special players, Jude Bellingham or Harry Kane.
“Jude Bellingham again, steps up, shows you why he is just so well loved, so well liked. I remember having a discussion with Nigel at the of the tournament, where Nigel said, think Tuchel will go with Morgan Rogers. And a lot of people were saying, oh, Morgan Rogers, Jude Bellingham hasn’t played a lot for Real Madrid.
“And I kept saying, guys, what we talking about? This is why you have the big players in your big moments. And he continues to step up.
“But my god, we’ve been bad. We’ve been so bad. Norway, again. Games are decided on moments.
“We get the goal back and then we end the first half pretty well because we’re on the front foot and we’re running. But games are decided on moments. And there’s a moment in that second half where they hit us on the counter attack. It’s 2 v 1 to Sorloth. If he plays Harland in first time, it’s 2-0. Game’s done.
“Thankfully for our point of view, missed. They messed that up. And we’re still here with 1-1. But it is not a performance where you can turn around and say, England were good at anything.”
Nigel Reo-Coker said: “It’s frustrating. And I can see why Troy gave such a low score, because we’ve had lots of possession, but we haven’t done nothing with the possession.
“We’re passing safe. We’re not taking real risks. We’re not showing, desire to take people on, they took a goal for us to really wake up. And I think that’s the frustrating part because again, Thomas Tuchel is a manager who said, ‘go out and play’. If we’re going to lose, we’re going to lose my way. I’ll take responsibility. But the players are not taking responsibility.
“We talked about Jude Bellingham having to be the catalyst for this side. And obviously no surprise. He’s the one that gets the goal to get them back into it. But for me again, it’s a performance that it’s not been great. They’re lucky it’s one one because it could easily have been 2-0 to Norway. Like I said, like Troy talked about that term earlier.
“But for me, England players got to take greater responsibility. It’s just so frustrating because they’re getting in good positions where you can take someone on one on one, especially from the wide players.
“Anthony Gordon. Yes, he gets the assist for Jude Bellingham, but he’s got to take on his defender. He’s got to be a lot more direct with his play and have a clearer picture in his mind because right now it seems like he’s getting the ball and doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the ball, he’s going to do, which way he’s going to go.
“Madueke on the opposite side is doing the same thing. Jude and Harry Kane haven’t been involved as much. And I think our midfield is still, again, as much as they’ve had a lot of possession this time. But now when you’re talking about the switch of play, hasn’t been good enough.”
“Should be an easy game… man for man we are better in every department.”
A confident @T_Deeney sees England overcoming Norway to qualify for the World Cup semifinal 🏆 pic.twitter.com/gGYfRtJbeR
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 11, 2026
“We are very very average… that was not a convincing performance.”@T_Deeney remains unimpressed with England despite their progression to the World Cup semifinals 🏆 pic.twitter.com/H2zr2WAOAV
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 12, 2026
Troy Deeney said: “It’s a relief, isn’t it? Oh, God, yeah. Thank God we’ve got that fella. Yeah. We are… very, very average. I’m sorry. We won. Job done. Thank you very much. Norway, row your boat, off your pop. Let’s deal with some real stuff now.
“But, that was not a convincing performance. If we’re being totally honest, we get the job done, all the comments are gonna be like, Oh, England won! It’s coming home, all of that… nothing about that was convincing.
“We get into extra time and thankfully we’ve got Jude Bellingham again, that special something that the guy willing to take a risk is a great strike from Morgan Rogers, 47 yards out and the goalkeeper again, who I told you is a backup goalkeeper for a reason. He had one great game.
“There’s so many of them, played this game a long time, there’s so many of them that train well and everyone goes, Oh, that guy should start. And they come in cause someone gets sent off. One game they do well. Second game they do okay. Third game, show you exactly who they are. Little mistake, Jude Bellingham scores. That’s exactly what it is.
“So great, Norway, story was fantastic. Wish you all the best in your development and what you’re doing. England, I won’t even say march on. Roly-poly on. And just hope to get through to the next round and see, come on Switzerland. Let’s hope Switzerland win. Playing like that against any of the big boys leaves me nervous.”
“We don’t dominate a game, we don’t control a game.”@T_Deeney is still waiting for England to reach the next level at the World Cup📈 pic.twitter.com/rPG66AUc02
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 12, 2026
Deeney continued: “They keep telling you this performance is gonna come, but also it might not. So for as much as it might come and the players might play eight, nine out of 10 across the board and we’ll show all the great qualities, there can be a day where you play six out of 10. Just as easy because the spaces between the lines are huge. Wide areas, are average at best.
“When it’s 0-0, we are playing with the shackles on and again, they told us they’re gonna play front footed football.
“There’s so many question marks based on what you said to what you see versus the result. The results are brilliant. We keep winning.
“But again, Norway, who Haaland was probably worst game of the tournament, brought him off when they were chasing a goal. They still had 10 shots in the game.
“Still, still had 10 shots in the game. So we don’t dominate a game. We don’t control a game. And then also the changes, in my opinion, we get away with it.
“Bringing off Declan Rice. At one point we had Reece James as the holding midfielder, Elliot Anderson up. Then we take off, Konsa, put Reece James right back in. And we just keep changing all these different things. And it’s like, we’re getting away with it.
“I don’t care if we win the World Cup, by the way. If we win the World Cup, great. Give him a statue, Thomas Tuchel. But I’m allowed to say again, I’m not convinced on everything we see other than we can grind out results, which is great, but there’s another level.”
😂 @T_Deeney was DONE with Norway fans rowing pic.twitter.com/jX6ZKkFGF8
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 12, 2026
“Fantastic tournament, loads to build on… They’re in a real good place.”@T_Deeney and Nigel Reo-Coker celebrate Norway for what they’ve achieved at the World Cup 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/9QY5kyEJt9
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) July 12, 2026
Here’s how fans reacted after Mike Grella and Troy Deeney call out England for their overall performance at the 2026 World Cup…
@OliviaBuzaglo: Can we not just be excited that we found a way to win when we didn’t play well? It’s tournament football. You don’t need to blow anyone away. You just need to win & that’s exactly what England are doing.
@FwRudiger: Literally all the media have gone on about for the last week is how good Norway are as a team and how this won’t be an easy game for England. Then England win a tough game against said opponents but now it England are not good enough.
@The_Forty_Four: It’s our own people trying to jeopardise any positivity around England this tournament… When we win it’s ’we haven’t won well enough’ & When we don’t win it’s ’how couldn’t we beat them?!’. When is everyone going to just shut up and let the lads keep winning?! 🏴🏴🏴
@ReeceLSport: It’s an 8 game tournament every 2 years not a 36 game season. I don’t really care if England control a game
@UTDavey:Troy Deeney – We keep winning but we don’t dominate games.Cheer up, Deeney!
@c19lox: OMG @T_Deeney cheer the hell up. Stop licking that @MikeGrella10 arse. I hope we fucking win it and the players tell c*nts like you to fuck off. Miserable twat
@GP1867: Utter nonsense. When you calm down and take emotions out of it, every game weve played we haven’t really looked like we were going to lose any of them. Norway scored a fluke cross/shot and barely had any other chances. Shit happens in football weve dealt with it well #threelions
@lee_hogan: Is this the guy from Scunthorpe and Carlisle? Made Norway look like world beaters? Norway who just beat Brazil?
@stevebrookstein: Who is this idiot? We played Norway who EVERYONE was calling a dark horse with Haaland. Who didn’t score. Their goal was a fluke. And it was 35 degrees and humid. You are clueless. It was never going to be pretty but if we we SOOO bad how come Haaland didn’t score?
@SCullig: This is getting ridiculous. Kept Haaland quiet, more possession, equal amount of shots. The only team that has been consistently good has been France. But they never talk about Spain or Argentina this way.
@LouSirr101: We must be the only nation that isn’t allowed to celebrate being in the semi-finals of a world cup
@MarkSabi: This guys a 🤡 it’s a WC quarter final, you get what you earn, we know we have to play better but have to give Norway respect !
