Good signs for England as Thomas Tuchel finds solutions to key issues ahead of World Cup

England have made big strides in their first year under Tuchel

Besides from that 100 per cent winning streak they wished to maintain, England ’s players were conscious they would not play again for their country until late March. A goalless draw in Albania would have sent them off back to their clubs with a nagging feeling of lost momentum, then came Thomas Tuchel ’s merrymen from the bench and all was well in the end.

Substitutes Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Elliot Anderson relit England’s fire on a tough evening in Tirana and made goals for Harry Kane in the 74th and 82nd minutes. Eventually, normal service resumed.

England have qualified for World Cups before, but never won 11 consecutive competitive games before. And no European team had ever won a qualifying group of six or more matches without conceding a single goal - until England did, in eight games, winning every one.

Though it ended just as it began with a 2-0 win over Albania , England finished their first (perhaps their only) calendar year under Tuchel a far better team than they were at the turn of the year.

Harry Kane scored twice against Albania

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That is to the German’s credit. Tuchel has instilled a healthy competitive hunger within the group. When this month England were left with two dead-rubber qualifiers, having already qualified last month, he set about engendering jeopardy in other ways, urging his players to fight to push ahead of their rivals in their positions and press their individual cases for World Cup selection.

He handled the Jude Bellingham situation impeccably. The way he left Bellingham out in October, insisted it was not a dropping, recalled him this month, started Morgan Rogers against Serbia, then handed Bellingham the initiative in Albania… he made his point inadvertently, without making it head on. Tuchel played a blinder.

And after trialling different formations and systems in March and June, a 4-2-3-1 formation came to the fore. It gets the best out of a crop of players that captain Harry Kane maintains is the best he has ever been a part of.

Faith in the testimony of Lee Carsley on Elliot Anderson’s displays for Under-21s in the summer has paid off. Tuchel has found the perfect partner for Declan Rice , with Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and the experienced Jordan Henderson ideal cover. And there are early indications Tuchel can be the man to make Foden tick in an England shirt.

Tuchel said he selected Marcus Rashford in March partly as reward for his bright start at Aston Villa and partly to spur him on to do even more. It worked. At Barcelona , he looks every bit a player good enough to affect games at a World Cup for England , just as he did at Qatar 2022 when he produced the best football of his international career.

Tuchel’s England will learn their World Cup opponents when the draw is made on December 5

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Kane was a stolid yet hugely respected presence throughout Sir Gareth Southgate’s eight-year tenure and is as consistent a goalscorer as he was then. Tuchel and his coaching team have spent time on ensuring others do not get in the way of England’s most creative player. In Albania , he drew level with Brazil legend Pele on 77 international goals - then overtook him eight minutes later.

Defensive robustness has been instilled. Eight clean sheets from eight qualifiers and a combined tally of just 2.22 expected goals faced in those games.

Tuchel has developed Rice and Marc Guehi as leaders within the group, and his substitutions invariably improve England’s stranglehold on each match.

There are still next steps to take. Tuchel must settle upon a dependable left-back and blood them into the team before the World Cup , and his side should still be producing more shots on target per game than they are.

Also, Bellingham’s reaction when being substituted for Rogers late on in Tirana was to hold his arms aloft in frustration: an unwelcome distraction on 2025's closing night.

But the England head coach handled the latest questions on the Real Madrid man’s attitude with aplomb.

“I saw that he was not happy,” Tuchel said. “I don’t want to make it bigger than it is. I think, to a certain degree, if you have players like Jude who are so competitive, they will never like [being replaced]. But my word stands.”

Here was a masterful way of diffusing the situation.

England are in safe hands. Their flawless qualifying campaign makes that patently clear, and Tuchel’s communication is further evidence. He even admitted that he “almost got emotional” in the dressing room in Tirana after the 2-0 win, having to wish his players an early Merry Christmas. It is more than four months until he will see them again.

An enduring squad harmony and genuine competition for places: these are invaluable things Tuchel can pocket as England head into a World Cup year.