Tuchel rates chances of England glory at World Cup as Ngumoha, King and Scott join camp | OneFootball

Thomas Tuchel wants his England side to “play with excitement” as they “dream” of winning the 2026 World Cup over the summer.

The German announced the Three Lions squad on Friday morning with the England boss picking the 26 players he wants by his side at the tournament in USA, Mexico and Canada.

Tuchel made several controversial selections with Djed Spence, Ivan Toney and Jordan Henderson among the names that England fans will debate.

The England head coach also confirmed that Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha, Fulham’s Josh King and Bournemouth’s Alex Scott will join England for their pre-training camp in Florida.

When asked about England’s chances of winning the World Cup, Tuchel replied: “To be honest, you are allowed to dream. I can dream about it for a little time of the day and quickly you go back and chunk it up in steps.

“We were clear from the first camp – let’s try to win it. If the energy and commitment is right, if the brotherhood is there the fans will see. At the same time we were clear, let’s play with excitement. The goal is clear but it is important to chunk it up – the first phase the camp, then the group stage.”

On their plans for getting up to speed before the World Cup, the England boss revealed Arsenal’s Champions League finalists will join the camp later than everyone else, he added: “They will not be with us on 1 June, we decided to have a pre-camp in the USA to get used to the humidity and heat.

“It’s a clear recommendation from the specialists. We’ll have two friendly matches, it’s not a selection camp, that’s done. I hope the energy will be more relaxed, morning sessions and meetings to connect with our identity.

“The afternoons they can relax, meet friends and families at the hotel, more relaxed in the first 10 days.

“We’ll use the first two friendlies to give rhythm. Arsenal players will come later. We’ll bring young and promising players with us to train with us.”

Tuchel: England have ‘specialists for all kinds of different scenarios’

Explaining some of his squad decisions, Tuchel insists England have “specialists for all kinds of different scenarios”, he said: “The squad has a significant number of players that will compete for starting minutes and starting places, that also gives us the chance to rotate on a high level and a significant number of players who carry the sportive responsibility on the highest level.

“We have a huge chunk of youthfulness in the squad. We have six players who have won titles with the under-21s. We have Kobbie, who is still young and has won his titles, we have Nico O’Reilly on top who is young and already won his medals.

“We have specialists with us, specialists for all kinds of different scenarios, when we are leading, when we are chasing a game, a result. We’ve always said we want to be a strong set-piece team, so we have specialists for that and we want to be a strong penalty team, we have specialists for that.”