Thomas Tuchel has acknowledged that England will not be favorites heading into the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Three Lions head to Latvia for a crucial World Cup qualifying match next Tuesday, where victory will seal their spot at next year’s tournament.
England have finished as runners-up at consecutive European championships, losing in 2020 to Italy and in 2024 to Spain.
However, they have not progressed beyond the semifinals of the World Cup since their only tournament win 59 years ago (1966).
The country’s best-ever finish since that win have been two fourth-placed finishes, in 1990 and in 2014.
Tuchel’s men host neighbors Wales on Thursday in an international friendly match as they step up preparation for Tuesday’s crunch qualifiers.
SportPremi has learned that captain Harry Kane has been ruled out of the clash with an ankle injury, with either Ollie Watkins or Marcus Rashford expected to get the starting berth.
Tuchel embraces underdog tag
England have headed into several tournaments as overwhelming favorites in recent years, given the quality of their players.
They are on track to secure qualification for next year’s event and will be keen on breaking their long trophy drought.
Speaking ahead of Thursday’s clash against Wales, Tuchel urged his side to play together as a team if they are to have any chance of winning a silverware.
“We will arrive as underdogs in the World Cup because we haven’t won it for decades, and 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 said in his prematch interview.
“If you’ve never won Wimbledon, you may be one of the favourites but you are not the favourite. You can go and if you come close, OK, you are within the pool, but you are not the favourite. It is just how it is.
“There is Brazil, there is Argentina, Spain, France and they just did it recently. It doesn’t mean we have no chance and we know very well. First we will qualify and then we will know exactly why we go there”, the England gaffer added.
