England World Cup 2026: Is Tuchel the man to end 60 years of hurt?

Sixty years of hurt and so many near misses. Now England have turned once again to an illustrious foreign manager in search of World Cup glory. 

So can Thomas Tuchel do what Sir Gareth Southgate couldn’t, and win one of international football’s major prizes? Below are my England World Cup 2026 predictions, including an assessment of their squad and chances of winning the competition.

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Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), James Trafford (Manchester City)

Defenders: Dan Burn (Newcastle United), Marc Guehi (Manchester City), Reece James (Chelsea), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Tino Livramento (Newcastle), Nico O'Reilly (Manchester City), Jarell Quansah (Bayer Leverkusen), Djed Spence (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Elliot Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Eberechi Eze (Arsenal), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Anthony Gordon (Newcastle United), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Noni Madueke (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa)

With a simple qualification campaign out of the way saw England win eight from eight without conceding, the Three Lions will be tested far more in North America as they strive to win their second World Cup.

Tuchel has already made it clear that he is going to do things his own way having named his 26-man squad for the World Cup. There’s no room for Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Cole Palmer or Phil Foden, with some serious talent being left at home. 

Instead, Tuchel has gone for balance, although I’m not sure about left-back, where Nico O’Reilly is the only natural choice - and even he is more of a midfielder. 

This looks to be Harry Kane’s team, with quick wingers set to compliment his play style, while Jordan Henderson’s experience is going to be used to keep standards high in training. 

With a spine featuring Marc Guehi, Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and captain Kane, this is a squad that certainly has enough talent to win the World Cup - but there are a lot of strong nations this time around. 

World Cup Odds

Their group looks fairly straightforward on paper, with Croatia up first in Arlington, followed by Ghana in Boston and finally Panama in New Jersey. 

England are huge favourites to win this group and should therefore get an easier route through, although there is a difficult looking potential tie against Mexico in Mexico City in the last 16. 

Group G Fixtures:

17 June 3pm local (9pm BST) - vs Croatia (Arlington)

23 June 4pm local (9pm BST) - vs Ghana (Boston)

27 June 5pm local (10pm BST) - vs Panama (New Jersey)

Player to watch: Harry Kane

It’s all on Kane’s shoulders for me. He is coming off the back of one of the best seasons of his life having finished on 61 goals in 51 appearances for a Bayern Munich side that won the Bundesliga title and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. 

If he wins this World Cup, Kane will go down as England’s greatest ever player for me. He already has a World Cup Golden Boot to his name, won in Russia 2018, and this squad feels like it has been picked to get the best out of him. 

I think Kane is a great shout to win the Golden Boot, given he is guaranteed to play almost every minute, and takes penalties. He clearly wasn’t fit at Euro 2024, and England need him to be at his very best if they are to go all the way. The Ballon d’Or surely awaits if he captains his side to glory.

Football Odds

Prediction: Semi-finals

England definitely can win the World Cup this year. But it’s going to be tough. England will win the group, and then should beat Senegal in the first knockout round in my predictions - just as they did in Qatar.

A last 16 game against Mexico in Mexico City looks like a tough test too, but I’d back them to win that before a quarter-final tie possibly against Norway. If England stop Erling Haaland & Co. there is a route through to the final four - but Portugal could prove to be too strong. 

England had no trouble reaching semi-finals and finals under Southgate, which is a big achievement in itself. But Tuchel has been brought in to win those big games when the pressure truly is on. I’m not sure it’s going to be quite that simple. 

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