{"id":805539,"date":"2026-07-17T06:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805539\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T06:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T06:22:14","slug":"world-cup-2026-england-driver-leaves-emotional-letter-for-beaten-team-jude-bellingham-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/805539\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup 2026: England driver leaves emotional letter for beaten team; Jude Bellingham news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jude Bellingham<\/a> shared an emotional letter written by the team\u2019s bus driver as the United Kingdom continues to point fingers over England\u2019s semi-final exit <\/a>at the World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the British government urged FIFA<\/a> to investigate Argentina after players celebrating their 2-1 win<\/a> posed with a banner that claimed sovereignty over the contested Falkland Islands<\/a>, Bellingham posted a letter drafted by bus driver Michael Chandler, urging the nation\u2019s fans to remain united.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham shared the touching letter.\u00a0Nine\/Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cWas really struggling to find the right words for yesterday and the last few weeks, but this pretty much hits the nail on the head from our driver in Kansas,\u201d Bellingham wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cThank you for the unbelievable support from back home and to those who spent their hard-earned money to travel to America and get behind us. <\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let the unity and love we\u2019ve seen in our country end with this campaign. When we\u2019re together, we can achieve big things\u2026 And we will! Love yous!\u201d<\/p>\n

Chandler\u2019s letter\/poem expressed deep gratitude for the privilege of driving the team, praising the squad for their character, humility, and the way they conducted themselves.<\/p>\n

How it will play out it remains to be seen as England coach Thomas Tuchel faces increasing pressure to stay in the job.<\/p>\n

During post-match celebrations in Atlanta, Argentina players held a banner handed over by fans, reading \u201cLas Malvinas son Argentinas\u201d \u2014 \u201cThe Malvinas are Argentine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argentina refers to the Falkland Islands as Islas Malvinas.<\/p>\n

They were invaded in 1982 under orders from Argentina\u2019s then-military dictatorship, triggering a 10-week war won by Britain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe World Cup might not be ours, but the Falkland Islands definitely are,\u201d a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelf-determination rests with the islanders and our commitment to the Falklands will never waver.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the banner, defender Gonzalo Montiel claimed fans gave it to them: \u201cThey just threw one down from the stands and the boys grabbed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Argentina\u2019s players unfurl the banner which reads \u201clas Malvinas son Argentinas\u201d or \u201cthe Falklands are Argentine\u201d in English.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

Argentinian journalist Nelson Castro added: \u201cSomeone threw it onto the field, and they gave it to the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIFA can prosecute Argentina\u2019s players and football federation because its disciplinary code prohibits at stadiums any \u201cmessage that is not appropriate for a sports event\u201d including those of \u201ca political, ideological, religious or offensive nature.\u201d<\/p>\n

Argentine President Javier Milei described the players\u2019 celebration with the banner as \u201cperfectly valid,\u201d saying the message \u201creflects a sentiment shared by all Argentines.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he said he expected FIFA to sanction the team with a fine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the players do is understandable; they get carried away by their emotions, they act on impulse, and that will likely lead to discussions about a fine,\u201d Milei told a Buenos Aires radio station.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jude Bellingham shared an emotional letter written by the team\u2019s bus driver as the United Kingdom continues to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":805540,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-805539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=805539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/805539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/805540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=805539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=805539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=805539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}