England superstar Jude Bellingham has clapped back at coach Thomas Tuchel’s scathing criticism of their performance in what he called a “lucky” extra-time win over Norway.

The powerhouse nation booked a date with Argentina in the semifinals on Sunday, sneaking past Norway, who are led by superstar striker Erling Haaland, 2-1 in their quarter final in Miami thanks to Bellingham’s brace.

It was another come-from-behind win for England after winger Andreas Schjelderup left them stunned with a remarkable strike to open the scoring in the 36th minute.

It took until two minutes into first-half injury time for Bellingham to respond, a great finish with his left foot in the box after a nice cross.

Both teams had goals disallowed in the second half, but Norway created the better chances, just unable to find the breakthrough.

It came back to bite as Bellingham tapped in the winner two minutes into extra time after a Morgan Rogers’ long shot was parried straight into his path, plunging an entire nation into ecstasy.

However, the scrappy nature of the performance caught the ire of the side’s German manager, Thomas Tuchel, post-game.

“We made life very, very difficult for ourselves today,” he said.

“The commitment is there, but we made life difficult for us in the way we played and how we played – sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough.

“We were lucky today. My heart, there is no doubt, I am proud and happy, and I feel so connected to this team because they just do whatever it takes to take the next step.

“They just refuse to lose. They overcome obstacles and adversity. But I am also a football coach, and I also have demands and, of course, we want to bring out the best in us and our performance because a top performance helps you win games.

“So, the head of mine is not fully satisfied and not 100 per cent happy with the way we played, and I stand by it. I think we can play faster, more clinical. We had too many unforced errors and technical mistakes in our game that cost us a lot of belief.”

Tuchel added he felt they would need to be better if they were to make their first final since winning the tournament in 1966.

“A lot of things we can do better, which is not a problem, but no disconnect from me to my team, not 1 per cent. I am full with my heart and fully in love with my players and my team and the way they perform,” he said.

The comments did not go down well with Bellingham when he was made aware of them in a post-game interview.

The Real Madrid star dismissed the criticism and defended his side’s efforts against a “tough” Norway side.

“Yeah, well, whatever,” he said.

“Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in these types of conditions against Erling Haaland, (Martin) Ødegaard, (Antonio) Nusa, (Alexander) Sørloth, you know. That’s not an easy team to play against.

“We’ve tried to create a positive environment, and we should continue that into the final four. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads.

“You’re not going to win every game popping the ball and making a thousand passes. Sometimes, you have to win dirty.”

While The Three Lions are on the verge of a historic final appearance, the side have not been able to hit their straps at any point in the competition to date.

They did enough to top their group despite a nil-all draw with Ghana, but had to come from behind in the Round of 32 against DR Congo, thanks to late goals from skipper Harry Kane.

Their best performance came in the Round of 16 against co-hosts Mexico in the high altitude of Mexico City.

However, they still had to cling on for the most desperate of victories after copping a red card.

Argentina also left it late to win their quarterfinal over a plucky Switzerland, Julián Alvarez netting a wonderstrike in extra time that will be talked about for decades to come, especially if the reigning champions can defend their crown.

England and Argentina will face off in the early hours of Thursday morning in Atlanta.