Uefa is to investigate England’s Jude Bellingham for potential indecent conduct after he was seen grabbing his crotch while looking at the crowd following a last-16 victory over Slovakia at Euro 2024.
England enjoyed the narrowest of lucky escapes to secure a 2-1 win, after a last-gasp bicycle kick by Bellingham took the match to extra time, before Harry Kane headed home the winner.
While Bellingham’s aggressive goal celebration was clearly an angry message to England fans, the crotch gesture was viewed by some spectators as an insult to Slovakia. Bellingham, however, said on social media that he was having a laugh with friends.
“An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game. Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight,” he said.
England will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals after they knocked out defending champions Italy with a 2-0 win on Saturday.
Southgate has a number of questions to answer ahead of the quarter-final, and will face an anxious wait over the fitness of Kieran Trippier, who was contending with injury in the build up to the game, and was taken off in the 66th minute after a heavy challenge.
Follow all the latest updates and reaction after England’s last-16 fixture below.
Trent Alexander-Arnold can dispel Gareth Southgate myth with obvious England change
The Trent Alexander-Arnold Experiment is dead. Time for another Trent Alexander-Arnold Experiment. Liverpool’s vice-captain seems a misunderstood, underused talent at international level. His time in midfield spanned 123 minutes against Serbia and Denmark and was of sufficient importance, such a scientific voyage of discovery, that it assumed a status of its own. It was an ‘Experiment’.
That it has been deemed a failure was apparent when Gareth Southgate worked his way through a series of partners for Declan Rice against Slovakia – Kobbie Mainoo for craft, Conor Gallagher for graft, Jude Bellingham for overhead kicks – and no scenario called for Alexander-Arnold.
Not as a midfielder anyway. But there felt a pressing need for Alexander-Arnold in his original incarnation, as the right-back revolutionary, the creator supreme, a player with a capacity to make the extraordinary happen. There appeared to be a shift in thought when Gary Neville, England’s most capped right-back until a couple of weeks ago, said it was “illegal” that Alexander-Arnold wasn’t playing. “He’s the best footballer at right-back we’ve ever seen in this country,” said Neville, a more prosaic talent recognising an extraordinary one.
Sonia Twigg2 July 2024 13:32
Pickford hails England’s ‘golden boy’
Jordan Pickford lauded “golden boy” Jude Bellingham after he rescued England’s Euro 2024 campaign in the roller-coaster last-16 clash against Slovakia.
After winning Group C in unconvincing fashion, the Euro 2020 runners-up were on the brink of a humiliating exit akin to Iceland eight years ago in what would almost certainly have been Gareth Southgate’s last match.
England looked set to fail in their bid to cancel out Ivan Schranz’s opener for wily Slovakia, with Phil Foden seeing a goal ruled out for offside by the VAR, Harry Kane wasting a great chance and Declan Rice hitting a post.
But Real Madrid star Bellingham scored a jaw-dropping leveller five minutes into stoppage time, with his overhead kick followed by a Kane header early in extra time as Southgate’s side won 2-1.
Sonia Twigg2 July 2024 13:00
Jude Bellingham faces possible ban over gesture to crowd during England’s Euro 2024 win
Jude Bellingham faces a possible ban at Euro 2024 after Uefa opened an investigation into a gesture he made while celebrating the spectacular overhead kick scored against Slovakia in their last-16 tie on Sunday.
In the aftermath of his goal, Bellingham was seen shouting “Who else?!” as he ran over to England fans after scoring. Video showed the Real Madrid forward then kiss his hand and grab his crotch in a gesture which appeared to be directed towards the side of the pitch.
Sonia Twigg2 July 2024 12:28
Jude Bellingham delivered salvation but he can’t hide England’s huge flaws
“I had belief right the way through that we’d get the goal. I didn’t think it would be as late as it was. I wasn’t ready to go home yet and clearly the players felt the same way.”
Sonia Twigg2 July 2024 12:27
Gareth Southgate’s straitjacket suffocates England again – but one lesson emerges
There was a minute left to run on Gareth Southgate’s reign, the clock ticking down on a dismal tournament that seemed a demoralising end to the second-finest tenure of any England manager.
Until an airborne Jude Bellingham intervened. Until Bellingham underlined that he has that combination of talent, technique and temperament to offer the promise of greatness. There had been reasons for Southgate to replace him: booked for a rash lunge at Lukas Haraslin, he had been unwise enough to lay his hands on the referee. He had endured a poor game.
But there was an instance of brilliance; a bicycle kick, an injury-time equaliser, a lifeline, a goal that may reshape England’s history as well as Southgate’s time in charge.
Sonia Twigg2 July 2024 12:27
Gareth Southgate’s straitjacket suffocates England again – but one lesson emerges
There was a minute left to run on Gareth Southgate’s reign, the clock ticking down on a dismal tournament that seemed a demoralising end to the second-finest tenure of any England manager.
Until an airborne Jude Bellingham intervened. Until Bellingham underlined that he has that combination of talent, technique and temperament to offer the promise of greatness. There had been reasons for Southgate to replace him: booked for a rash lunge at Lukas Haraslin, he had been unwise enough to lay his hands on the referee. He had endured a poor game.
But there was an instance of brilliance; a bicycle kick, an injury-time equaliser, a lifeline, a goal that may reshape England’s history as well as Southgate’s time in charge.
Sonia Twigg2 July 2024 12:26