Thomas Tuchel intends to sound out “gentleman” Gareth Southgate and immediate England predecessor Lee Carsley before kicking off the qualification campaign for the 2026 World Cup. The new England head coach has signed an 18-month contract with the Football Association which starts on 1 January, and Tuchel is well aware that his mission is to add a second World Cup star to the England jersey.
Friday’s qualification draw pitted his team against Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra, with the group winners securing an automatic place in the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Tuchel is a hugely-respected club coach but is new to the international arena and confirmed he planned to set aside time to speak to Southgate, who bowed out in the summer after taking England to a second-successive Euros final.
“He’s a gentleman,” Tuchel told Sky Sports News. “We met before when I was at Chelsea and it was a pleasure to talk to him, and why shouldn’t I [meet him again]?”
He will also hold talks at St George’s Park next month with Carsley, who took interim charge for England’s Nations League campaign in the autumn. “We will work from January at St George’s and I hope it will become very regular that we will meet and very normal that we meet,” he added.
“Of course we will exchange [ideas] because I’m interested in his point of view about the [squad selection for] the games, about the potential in the group and how he felt about the group and the experiences. He is the under-21 coach, so he will be very, very close to me and we have enough time from January.”
England are set to start their qualification campaign in March and have won every match they have played to date against their Group K opponents. However, Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live it was not a given his team would top the group, adding they would need to be “serious” and “determined”.
England have only met Serbia once in their history as a single nation – at this year’s Euros where Jude Bellingham’s goal proved decisive in a group stage encounter. They have won all six previous meetings with Albania – all World Cup qualifiers – and last came across each other in qualifying for the last finals in Qatar. Southgate’s side beat Albania 5-0 at Wembley in November 2021.
Latvia will be new opponents, while Andorra were also in England’s group for qualifying for Qatar. England won the home encounter 4-0 and a 5-0 victory in the return. Asked about facing Serbia and Albania, Tuchel told BBC Radio 5 Live: “They are always very talented individual players, a very emotional group, a very emotional crowd. So they can always surprise. We have to take this very seriously. It’s a first fixture with Latvia, so a new challenge for all of us.
“And then we are clear favourites, of course, against Andorra, but qualification is key now. Qualification is top priority. We have to be serious. We have to be determined, and we have to show what we’re up for in this group of five.”
Tuchel was asked if he was confident of finishing top of the group, and added: “I don’t see it as a given. The gap closes more and more between the big nations and the small nations. You see it in the Euros lately. There are no such thing as results that are already done before the match is played. The smaller nations have become stronger and stronger. So we have to earn our place. We have to earn our top spot.”
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The new England manager also confirmed he will speak to the Arsenal defender Ben White about a possible national team return in the new year. White has not played for England since he left the 2022 World Cup early, and is currently sidelined after undergoing a minor knee operation last month.
“I will reach out to him. It should be a clean start and a clear narrative, said Tuchel, who added that he will stick with Harry Kane as England captain. “There is at the moment no need to think about change,” said Tuchel, who managed the forward at Bayern Munich last season. “Harry was always a top captain for England. So why do you even think about it at the moment?”
Tuchel believes national team coaches would relish another winter World Cup in Saudi Arabia, but accepted it would be much less popular with clubs and leagues. Tuchel was asked about the prospect of a winter finals in 10 years’ time as he attended the 2026 qualifying draw.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: “We just had a meeting with all the other coaches. I think there is not a decision made, but the coaches who were on international duty in Qatar were very happy about the winter World Cup because players came in November and December, so not after a tiring season but in the middle of it.”
Source: theguardian.com
