Jude Bellingham slaps Argentina star after England loss in World Cup semi-final | OneFootball

England star Jude Bellingham has been caught giving Argentina player Valentin Barco a slap after his side’s World Cup semi-final loss.

Bellingham carried England during most of this summer’s World Cup, but he was pretty ineffective in the semi-final loss to Argentina on Wednesday night.

Argentina’s players were clearly tasked with trying to rattle Bellingham during the semi-final, because the world-class midfielder was kicked and shoved on numerous occasions during a tetchy opening half.

Thankfully for England, Bellingham kept his head and avoided getting sent off, but they still ultimately lost the semi-final.

Anthony Gordon converted a sublime cross by Morgan Rogers to give England the lead after 55 minutes, but Thomas Tuchel’s side were poor after going ahead and lost their lead in stoppage time.

Tuchel arguably went defensive too early and invited pressure on his side, and England eventually caved to lose 2-1 via goals by Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.

Jude Bellingham caught slapping Valentin Barco

It was a tense game throughout and there were also ugly scenes after the match, with Bellingham involved in an incident with Barco.

Barco, who appears set to join Chelsea from Strasbourg this summer, celebrated with Argentina teammates in front of Bellingham, who responded by slapping the defender on the back of the head.

It remains to be seen whether Bellingham will be punished for this incident, but regardless it was a disappointing end to the World Cup for the midfielder and England.

Post-match, Gary Neville and Alan Shearer have criticised Tuchel for his tactics against Argentina.

Neville said: “England will never have a better chance to reach a final than that.

“They were five minutes plus stoppage time away from the final. They got too narrow and too deep. It was very similar to the Euros final against Italy.

“It’s about mentality and belief for England, and a bit of quality to keep the ball.”

Shearer added: “England had six defenders on the pitch, (he) played his hand and wanted to hang on. Hanging on vs Norway and Mexico…they perhaps don’t have the quality Argentina have in terms of ability on the ball and to punish, plus their attitude.

“He played his cards very early in the hope he could hang on, and it backfired. Those decisions are the ones which can make such a difference.”