'Miscommunication' - Anthony Gordon & Jude Bellingham involved in awkward England penalty incident as Real Madrid star has spot-kick taken off him

England’s 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in Orlando was largely a serene affair, but a curious incident involving Bellingham and Gordon caught the eye in the second half. After the Three Lions were awarded a penalty, Bellingham immediately grabbed the ball with the intention of extending England's lead. However, following a brief intervention from the touchline, the Madrid man was instructed to relinquish the ball to Gordon.

The Barcelona man, who has been in fine form, duly stepped up and hammered the ball home to make it 2-0. While the exchange looked awkward on the pitch, Tuchel was quick to clarify that the situation arose from the dugout rather than any player ego. The "miscommunication" occurred during a flurry of activity as England looked to manage their squad ahead of the tournament opener.

Speaking after the match, which was delayed by an hour due to thunderstorms in Florida, Tuchel took full responsibility for the confusion. The German coach revealed that the usual protocol for designating penalty takers had been disrupted by the high volume of changes made during the friendly encounter, with usual penalty-taker Harry Kane having been taken off the pitch.

“There was just a lot of substitutions and then it was not clear anymore the order of the takers,” Tuchel explained to reporters. “Anthony was the second taker. It was not on the wall, normally it's on the wall because we know we only have five substitutes, there were already a lot of substitutes, so we had a bit of a miscommunication. It was our responsibility and we needed to do it verbally.”

Tuchel then commented on Bellingham's work ethic in midfield. He said: “We made very clear the DNA of us, off the ball, the intensity, the pressing. I wanted to see Jude in the combination today for the first time with Harry (Kane), Elliot (Anderson), and Declan (Rice) in the centre of the game. I know what Morgan (Rogers) gives us there. I just saw it so many times. It was the first time for Jude. He buys into these ideas. He has to, and he loves to do it, and that's part of our game. And he did it like everyone else on a high level.”

When pressed on whether the penalty incident or individual performances from Bellingham and Gordon would impact his starting lineup for the tournament, Tuchel remained tight-lipped. He refused to single out the pair, instead praising the collective effort of the group and the attitude shown by those coming off the bench in the Florida heat.

“I don't want to talk about the two performances because for me it's absolutely too short to focus on these two guys,” he said. “We had a very strong team from the beginning, we knew that, and we had strong substitutes because that's the nature of the team and the attitude from the bench was top. I just liked the performance over the 90 minutes, both players, Jude and Anthony, were a part of it.”

Despite the minor spot-kick drama, the overall mood in the England camp is one of immense confidence. Goals from Rice, Gordon, and Ollie Watkins ensured an easy night for Tuchel's men, who emerged from the physical test without any fresh injury concerns. The squad will now travel to their base in Kansas City to put the final touches on their preparations before facing Croatia in Dallas.

Tuchel believes the bond between the players is at an all-time high as they chase their first World Cup trophy in 60 years. “If we can really play like this and grow into the tournament and have this kind of cohesion and brotherhood and team spirit that we showed today, then we will have an amazing connection with the fans and this will hopefully be an amazing experience,” the manager added.