Jude Bellingham insists he was simply “discussing a foul” with Lionel Messi as a clip of their heated confrontation in the World Cup semi-final went viral on social media.
Argentina captain Messi set up both late goals as the defending champions broke English hearts with a 2-1 victory in Atlanta while England’s star playmaker Bellingham, despite his last-16 and quarter-final heroics, was largely quiet in the final-four contest.
Yet Real Madrid midfielder Bellingham, who can speak fluent Spanish, was embroiled in a conversation with Messi in the first-half during a brief pause in play, resulting in Messi making a pointed facial expression and Bellingham laughing as he walked away.
Asked about the confrontation after the game, Bellingham played down the incident, saying: “We was discussing a foul actually, it was nothing bad. I’m sure everyone will do their thing and make it a big deal but it was nothing big really.
“I thought there was a foul earlier and he said ‘what about the one on me?’ and I said ‘you’re strong enough to take it’, you know what I mean.
“It was a privilege to play against him, it was nothing like that against him. I’m obviously on the losing side which hurts a lot but a privilege to line up against one of the best.”
After the game, Bellingham was involved in an altercation with Valentin Barco, slapping the Argentina substitute around the back of the head. It remains to be seen if Bellingham will face any sanction. England face France in the bronze final on Saturday in Miami.
England took the lead in the 55th minute through Anthony Gordon yet the Three Lions then dropped very deep, switched to a back-five, and ceded space in the midfield as Argentina carved a route back into the match.
England boss Thomas Tuchel has received immense criticism for his tactical plan and substitutions in the second-half, yet insisted he had “no regrets.”
“You can discuss this with a million coaches [but] I have to make a decision on the pitch,” he told the BBC.
“I analysed the match and I did it a certain way so that’s my responsibility. In the moment, no regrets. The team gave everything and we were very, very close. We deserved to be up 1-0.
“We played one of our better matches, maybe our best match in the circumstances. The team was top, we couldn’t get over the line but no regrets.”
