Zlatan Ibrahimović has sharply criticized England's Noni Madueke, suggesting the team was disadvantaged while the player was on the field during their World Cup match against Norway.
Madueke started the match in Miami ahead of teammate Bukayo Saka but struggled to make an impact against Norway's defense. By halftime, Madueke had only 28 touches and had not created any scoring opportunities. Ibrahimović, working as a pundit for FOX Sports, described Madueke's performance as making England play with "one player less."
"Madueke has been on the pitch and I have to say every time he gets the ball he makes the wrong decision, and he's walking on the pitch," Ibrahimović stated. "If I'm Tuchel I change him, he's done nothing in these first 45. Even the hydration break didn't help… They played with one guy less."
Manager Thomas Tuchel appeared to agree with the assessment, substituting Madueke at halftime for Saka. Despite England ultimately securing a 2-1 victory with two goals from Jude Bellingham, Tuchel expressed dissatisfaction with the team's overall performance.
"We made life very difficult for ourselves today," Tuchel said. "I am not happy with the performance. We were sloppy, repetitive… we were lucky today."
England is set to face either Argentina or Switzerland in the semi-finals, their fourth World Cup semi-final appearance. It remains to be seen whether Madueke will feature in the starting lineup for the upcoming match.