Tuchel insists England will be World Cup underdogs
England will bid to end 60 years of hurt at the 2026 World Cup, but Thomas Tuchel does not believe they are tournament favourites.
Thomas Tuchel believes England's lack of success at recent World Cups means they will be underdogs at next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
England are close to confirming their spot at the 2026 World Cup, and depending on the result of Albania's meeting with Serbia on Saturday, they could seal qualification as early as Tuesday, when they visit Latvia.
The Three Lions are fourth in the FIFA World Rankings and are one of the favourites to lift the most prestigious trophy in international football, having finally hit top form under Tuchel with a 5-0 win in Serbia last month.
However, the German does not believe England should view themselves in such a light.
Since winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966, England have only gone beyond the quarter-finals twice, finishing fourth both in Italy in 1990 and in Russia in 2018.
In that time, they have gone out in the last eight at five tournaments, the last 16 twice and the group stage once (also second group stage in 1982), while failing to qualify on three occasions.
And Tuchel believes England must mould a cohesive team, rather than a group of star individuals, if they are to succeed.
"We will arrive as underdogs at the World Cup because we haven't won it for decades," he told reporters ahead of Thursday's friendly against Wales at Wembley.
"We will play against teams who have repeatedly won it during that time, so we need to arrive as a team, otherwise we have no chance."
Tuchel is taking inspiration from the NFL's New England Patriots, who won six Super Bowls with Bill Belichick as their coach and Tom Brady at quarterback between 2002 and 2019, having recently watched a documentary about the team's dynasty.
"We can only make it happen if we arrive with a strong, strong team," Tuchel continued. "I just watched a documentary on the New England Patriots and saw a quote there: 'We don't collect the most talented players; we build a team.'
"I could not agree more. That's what we're trying to do.
"We believe in what we're building, we believe in what we feel, we believe in what we're seeing with this team and this squad and the competition is on.
"I'm not surprised that I'm questioned about my decisions and people agree or don't agree, but that's the nature of the job.
"The feedback after our last match was very positive and all the credit goes to the team. The fans in the stadium and at home felt we played as a team, that was most important."
