‘He’s got to win it’ - Thomas Tuchel told World Cup glory is a must after being appointed by England to lift trophies

England have, in the men’s game, gone 60 years without having something to celebrate on the senior international front. The legends of 1966 continue to fill the last trophy-winning entry on a rather sparse roll of honour.

Gareth Southgate, who was knighted and became a Sir on the back of his exploits in the most demanding of coaching posts, came as close as anybody to breaking that barren run. He guided the Three Lions to a World Cup semi-final and back-to-back European Championship finals.

Having taken the decision to bow out following defeat to Spain at Euro 2024, England’s managerial baton has since been passed in the direction of Tuchel. He committed to an initial 18-month deal through to the end of this summer’s World Cup. Faultless progress was made through qualification for that event.

That led to the 52-year-old being awarded another tournament cycle, which will include a home soil Euros in 2028, but has the FA moved too soon? Tuchel is yet to test himself as the leader of the Three Lions’ pack in a competitive environment.

Quizzed on what the minimum requirement now is, in order to avoid uncomfortable questions being asked, ex-England striker Fowler - speaking in association with BetMGM - told GOAL during an exclusive interview: “This is a touchy one for me because I think when you look at England in the past where they've got the two European Championship finals, obviously the World Cup semi-final, and then the FA come out and say, ‘well something needs to happen, we need to win’.

“When you look at the FA and when they brought out this pre-requisite of a new manager coming in, they wanted a manager who's got a history of winning trophies and being successful.

“Now Gareth Southgate for me was a good England manager. He got to the latter stages of the European Championships of course, and obviously the World Cup, and we know that. But they probably wanted someone to take them over the line. So obviously Tuchel is the man to come and do that.

“For me, if you get to a World Cup quarter-final and a semi-final, that's no different as far as I'm concerned. For me, I think he's got to win it.

“I hope that doesn't sound really wrong on his level, because I think he's a good manager, I think he'll want to win it, of course he will, and he'll do everything he can, and he is capable of winning it. But I think the pre-requisite of what the FA were saying, I think they were essentially saying we want someone who's got to win a tournament. And the tournament is now. I think he's got to win it.”

Tuchel will be fully aware of the pressure and expectation that he is working under. England have dared to dream of seeing football “come home” again ever since Bobby Moore hoisted the World Cup trophy aloft at Wembley Stadium some six decades ago.

Some big names - from Don Revie, Sir Bobby Robson and Terry Venables to Glenn Hoddle, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello - have all failed to get the Three Lions back into the winners’ enclosure.

Tuchel’s quest to buck that trend will begin - following friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica - when locking horns with Croatia at AT&T Stadium in Texas on June 17. England will go on to face Ghana and Panama in Group L, with the plan being to establish enough early momentum that a serious surge towards a golden finishing post can be launched.