ITV hit with hundreds of Ofcom complaints as England World Cup coverage sparks fury
ITV have been hit with 443 Ofcom complaints following their coverage of England’s dramatic World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway.
The Three Lions secured their place in the last four with a tense 2-1 win on Saturday, but the broadcaster’s post-match coverage quickly became a major talking point.
Viewers took issue with reporter Gabriel Clarke’s interviews with England manager Thomas Tuchel and match-winner Jude Bellingham shortly after the final whistle.
Ofcom confirmed that the majority of complaints concerned Clarke’s questioning of the pair, with some supporters accusing the broadcaster of striking an overly negative tone after England had reached the World Cup semi-finals.
The backlash represents an unwelcome distraction for ITV, whose tournament coverage has otherwise earned praise for its presentation from a rooftop studio overlooking Brooklyn Bridge.
Tuchel had already delivered a scathing assessment of England’s performance before Clarke questioned whether the team’s problems were linked to mentality.
Despite the historic result, the German made no attempt to disguise his frustration with the quality of his side’s display.
“I’m not happy with the performance. We made life very, very difficult for ourselves,” Tuchel said.
ITV have been hit with 443 Ofcom complaints following their coverage of England’s dramatic World Cup quarter-final victory over Norway
“The result is fantastic, we’re in the last four. It’s amazing but we’re not happy with the performance.
“The commitment is there but we made life very difficult for us in the way we played, how we played.
“Sloppy, a lot of technical mistakes, not fast enough, not repetitive enough. We were lucky.”
The exchange then became noticeably more tense when Clarke asked whether England’s difficulties had been caused by a mentality problem.
Every team to have won the World Cup | GETTY/GB NEWSTuchel immediately rejected the suggestion and appeared irritated by the line of questioning.
“It’s not a mentality problem – this is pure mentality,” he replied.
“How can you ask about mentality now? This is pure mentality, you can bottle it up and sell it.
“It’s the quality of our games. That’s it. It has nothing to do with mentality.”
Clarke then turned his attention to Bellingham, who had scored twice to drag England into the semi-finals and take his World Cup tally to six goals.
The Real Madrid midfielder is firmly in contention for the Golden Boot following another decisive display, but was told during the interview that his manager had been “not very happy” with England’s performance.
Bellingham offered a cutting response.
“Yeah, well, whatever. Whatever,” the 23-year-old said.
Jude Bellingham scored twice for England to fire them past Norway at the World Cup
“It’s difficult out there. It’s a tough shift.”
England had been forced to dig deep against Norway before Bellingham’s brace secured a place in the semi-finals and kept their hopes of winning a first World Cup since 1966 alive.
ITV have not been accused of breaching broadcasting rules, and an Ofcom complaint does not automatically trigger an investigation.
However, the scale of the reaction underlines how strongly viewers responded to the interviews during one of England’s biggest victories in recent years.
