High-fives, no passengers and a clear message: Inside Thomas Tuchel’s plan to win the World Cup | OneFootball

Only one thing matters for the new England manager in his 15-month mission to rule the world

Thomas Tuchel used his first meeting with his first England squad on Monday evening to hammer home the point.

Every minute, Tuchel told his players in a meeting room at the St George’s Park Hilton, of the 24 days they would spend together between now and next summer should be put towards winning the 2026 World Cup.

He made no mention of tactics, and emphasised the importance of his players forming a “brotherhood”, who must remain united through tough moments but always speak their mind on difficult topics within the group.

Tuchel takes charge of England for the first time in World Cup qualifiers against Albania on Friday and Latvia next Monday

The FA via Getty Images

The 51-year-old spoke about his conversations with World Cup-winners, who had emphasised the importance of togetherness, and pointed out that most successful NBA sides in history were those who high-fived and hugged the most; he encouraged his players to be similarly tactile.

It was a stirring address, that left many of the squad impressed, particularly those who were meeting Tuchel in person for the first time.

Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, who has worked under Pep Guardiola, Unai Emery and Tuchel’s predecessor Gareth Southgate, had never before experienced the same “aura” in a manager. “[His] presence is a bit different,” Rogers told reporters.

Unlike Southgate, however, Tuchel will not win any plaudits for creating a harmonious squad or even for transforming England’s playing style, starting with the games against Albania and Latvia on Friday and Monday.

The German was named as the third foreign coach in England’s history with the mandate of conquering the world in Canada, the USA and Mexico next summer.

Anything else would be deemed a failure and, in all likelihood, see Tuchel return to club football at the end of his 18-month contract with the FA.

After the steady, holistic building of his predecessor, Tuchel represents a new ‘win now’ era for England during which he will have one tournament cycle to drag Southgate’s nearly-men “over the line”, as he said at his unveiling in October.

It is win or bust for Tuchel at the 2026 World Cup after being handed an 18-month contract with the FA

The FA via Getty Images

Tuchel’s arrival therefore marks a stark change in direction from the FA and a major gamble, particularly given his nationality.

Tuchel will not only be expected to win, but win well - particularly given his rich history of stylish success.

Across seven years in the job, Southgate raised expectations to the extent that the country no longer appeared content with England navigating knockout matches; they had to entertain, too - or at least perform like a team which amounted to the sum of its magnificent parts.

For all the strides forward under Southgate (and we should not forget the transformation in England’s mentality, epitomised by those nerveless penalty shoot-outs), he failed to create a side with a clear identity, painfully underlined by the defeat to Spain in the final of last summer’s Euros.

Tactics and tools

Tuchel is determined to change this; he envisages an England which embodies the best qualities of the Premier League - fast, physical, attacking, relentless, underpinned by fierce pressing - and very different to Southgate’s team, which felt more primitive than leading club sides.

Tuchel wants his players to know their roles and the system intimately, and he is likely to switch between a back-three and -four.

He has, though, promised that creative talents including Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden will be given the “freedom to express themselves”.

It is the way his club sides at Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich have played - and won - at their peak but translating his football to international level comes with unique challenges.

Top club teams all press in a slightly different way, for example, and it remains to be seen if Tuchel will have sufficient time on the training pitch or elite-level matches (England also face Andorra and Serbia in qualifying and have lined up a friendly with Senegal in June) with his players to build coherence.

Tuchel has vowed to give creative talents including Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden the ‘freedom to express themselves’

The FA via Getty Images

More specifically, does Tuchel have the right tools for his approach?

He has insisted his England side will not take passengers, warning his players that no one will be “an exception to the rule”, while giving his unequivocal backing to captain Harry Kane and recalling Jordan Henderson, 34.

Only a fool would doubt Kane’s goal-scoring but the 31-year-old’s pedestrian displays at the Euros suggested he may not have the legs to be the high-pressing No9 that Tuchel needs.

Henderson will be 36 at the start of the World Cup and there are also doubts about his durability at this level.

And, more broadly, will it even be practical to press high in the heat of the North American summer?

Fifteen-month mission

It was gone 10pm on Thursday when Dan Burn’s phone pinged with a message he had been dreaming of for years: “Are you still awake?”

He was, and the Newcastle defender jumped on a FaceTime with the sender, Tuchel, to learn he had been called up to the England squad for the first time.

Burn, who would score in Newcastle’s historic League Cup final win three days later, did not sleep a wink.

Tuchel left it late to inform many of his players that they had made the cut for his first squad, prioritising calls to those who missed out, including Jack Grealish and Morgan Gibbs-White, who was later called up to replace the injured Palmer.

Some of the lucky players did not learn the news until first thing on Friday morning, only an hour or two before the FA’s official announcement.

Tuchel’s first England squad has a distinctly ‘win now’ feel

The FA via Getty Images

His final picks were not without controversy; back came Ajax’s Henderson, who was dropped by Southgate for the Euros, along with Kyle Walker, also 34, Marcus Rashford and Reece James, who played under Tuchel at Chelsea.

Although teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly also earned a call-up, the squad had a distinctly “win now” feel.

This was emphasised by his comments about Grealish, whom Tuchel suggested could yet to be “glue” in his new-look squad.

Perhaps most intriguingly, he suggested some players - Henderson, Walker and Grealish seem possible candidates - could be taken to the World Cup squad effectively as experienced cheerleaders “to take care of the values of the team, of the language, of the laughter, the pressure, the intensity, the seriousness”.

His openness was refreshing after Southgate’s more careful messaging, but the inclusion of so many experienced heads as well as previously called-up younger players gave the new era a flat feel.

Aside from Burn, where were the wildcards, such as Djed Spence or Liam Delap?

There is still scope for Tuchel’s squad to dramatically change, with Harry Maguire, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Lewis Hall, Kobbie Mainoo, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka among the players to miss out through injury.

Youngsters such as Jarrad Branthwaite and Adam Wharton may become harder to overlook in future.

Tuchel, though, told his players that building for the World Cup started on Monday and has insisted that the likes of Henderson and Burn are contenders for the finals, not just this fortnight’s games.

Early impressions

Tuchel starts the England job at a disadvantage.

He is not the first foreigner to manage England but he is the first from the country’s greatest sporting rivals, and there is an understandable view that international football should be first and foremost about nationality: our best against yours.

In these very early days, Tuchel has made a strong first impression, though, winning over his selected players with his vibrant personality and ambitious message, making efforts to placate those who missed out, and disarming the media.

Tricky questions on his work schedule, the national anthem and squad selections have been skilfully navigated already, although there are likely to be much tougher topics ahead.

Given his record and mandate, expectations will be sky high. England must convincingly win the matches against Albania and Latvia with a new intensity and swagger or howls of discontent will surface.

But cut through the noise and judging Tuchel as England manager should be easy, or at least far easier than assessing the final years of Southgate’s reign.

For Tuchel, it feels like a simple case of win or bust next summer.