England hired Thomas Tuchel to win the 2026 World Cup - anything less should be considered failure

From the outset, the English Football Association (FA) hasn't been shy about the fact that Tuchel has been hired with the singular purpose of winning the 2026 World Cup - albeit his contract has now been extended to the end of Euro 2028 on home soil - as they once again risked being accused of arrogance and entitlement in the international arena.

The former Chelsea manager's original 18-month deal tellingly ran until the end of the tournament and no further, reflecting England's determination (and desperation) to focus solely on going one step further than they did with Sir Gareth Southgate at the helm and end the painful six-decade wait for a major trophy.

Following Tuchel's appointment in October 2024, the FA's CEO Mark Bullingham said: "Fundamentally we wanted to hire a coaching team to give us the best possible chance of winning a major tournament, and we believe they will do just that. Thomas and the team have a single-minded focus on giving us the best possible chance to win the World Cup in 2026."

The new manager echoed that in his first press conference, saying: "The target is nothing else but the biggest one in world football."

A contract renewal came in February after the Three Lions' historic qualification campaign, and asked at the time if he believed England could win the World Cup this summer, Tuchel reiterated: "Yes, we believe, of course we believe. We know how difficult it is and of course some other countries will believe as well, but we believe that we can play a strong role and we will go for it."

Tuchel began work in earnest in March 2025, and there's no denying that the World Cup qualification campaign he oversaw was mightily impressive; England emerged top of a group containing Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra with a record of eight wins from eight, and, remarkably, without conceding a single goal.

There were signs, too, of a coherent style of play, with Elliot Anderson and Morgan Rogers both emerging as key players in the manager's forward-thinking, fluid, possession-based system.

You'd think, then, that they would be one of the most feared nations going into FIFA's showpiece event this summer. But, in truth, no one really knows what to expect from the new-look Three Lions when the main event gets underway on June 11.

That is mainly the result of some deeply concerning friendly results against the kinds of opponents they can expect to come up against in the extended knockout stages of the revamped tournament; back in June 2025, Tuchel's men were well beaten by African powerhouse Senegal in a dire display at Nottingham Forest's City Ground, before a disappointing March international break saw them draw with Uruguay before slipping to an ugly defeat to Japan in the last game before the manager decided his final World Cup squad.

England are also still yet to face another country in the top 10 of FIFA's world rankings under Tuchel, and they won't before the main event gets going as they only have pre-tournament friendlies against New Zealand and Costa Rica scheduled once they touch down in the United States.

Senegal, Uruguay and Japan are the only top-20 nations they've played, and the Three Lions are winless in those encounters.

Those results and performances in March seemingly proved to be the final straw for Tuchel as he proceeded to make some hugely contentious and brutal calls in settling on his final 26-man squad, as many of those involved in the games against Uruguay and Japan were unexpectedly axed.

The list of absentees notably includes Harry Maguire, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Adam Wharton, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Morgan Gibbs-White, while the likes of Dan Burn, Jarell Quansah, Djed Spence, Jordan Henderson and Ivan Toney received call-ups, sparking a significant backlash in the media and online as many fans were left in disbelief by some of the selection decisions.

There is little doubt that Tuchel is taking a huge risk by leaving out a raft of potentially impactful stars; Maguire has tournament know-how and can make a difference in both boxes, Alexander-Arnold and Wharton could be lock pickers against a low block, while Palmer, Foden and Gibbs-White all have the ability to pop up with a game-changing moment in attack - the former, in particular, proved as much at Euro 2024, with an assist in the semi-final and a goal in the final.

In terms of those who have been included on board the plane to North America, there are serious concerns surrounding a perceived lack of depth, given those who are absent.

It's hard to argue that Tuchel hasn't included his strongest possible starting line-up, but many sceptics will be wondering where the impact is going to come from in those sticky situations you can so often find yourselves in in tournament football.

England's bench is likely to comprise of two goalkeepers, Tino Livramento, Spence, John Stones, Burn, Quansah, Kobbie Mainoo, Henderson, Jude Bellingham or Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Marcus Rashford, Noni Madueke, Toney and Ollie Watkins.

The harsh reality is that only a handful of those names instil any confidence that they could deliver in those vital moments, while many lack tournament experience. If things go awry for England in North America, critics will immediately look back to the squad selection as the moment that things began to go wrong.

In fairness, Tuchel had made it clear from the outset that he wasn't afraid to make unpopular and divisive decisions, and he stood staunchly by his squad selection the face of the backlash.

"From day one we were clear we were trying to build the best possible team, which is not necessarily the 26 most talented players," he told a press conference after his squad was officially revealed. "Teams win championships - and what we're trying to achieve can only be achieved as a team. We have players ready and committed to the idea of team spirit and being unselfish.

"We have specialists for different scenarios - when we're leading, when we're chasing a result. We have always said we want to be a strong set-piece team, so we have specialists for that and we want to be a strong penalty team, we have specialists for that."

He later added: "It's about building a brotherhood and a certain energy, then we can transmit that to our fans. Once we get that right anything is possible. We will try to win this tournament."

When the noise around Tuchel's divisive squad dies down, though, all that will matter is results - and this is a manager with a track record of delivering them in cup competitions especially.

At Borussia Dortmund, he led his side to the final of the DFB-Pokal in each of his two seasons at the helm, ending a five-year wait for major silverware at the second time of asking in 2017 as BVB downed Eintracht Frankfurt in Berlin.

The German tactician would then lift the Coupe de France in his second season with Paris Saint-Germain, albeit that is a somewhat less impressive feat given their domestic dominance. He also took the club to its first-ever Champions League final in 2020, where PSG would suffer a narrow defeat to Bayern Munich.

During his time at Chelsea, Tuchel once again demonstrated his aptitude for the cup competitions, guiding the Blues to four finals out of the five cups in which he managed the club. The pinnacle was of course leading an unfancied side to a second Champions League crown in 2021, masterminding a victory over Pep Guardiola's Manchester City in the final. That came a fortnight after Chelsea were beaten by Leicester City in the FA Cup showpiece, and they would agonisingly lose both the 2022 FA and Carabao Cup finals to Liverpool on penalties.

This is, of course, not even taking into account his league successes, which include titles in France and Germany, although Bayern only just took the crown in 2023 after Dortmund infamously imploded on the final day.

Having acknowledged that the current crop of English players is capable of ending the long, long wait for a major trophy, the FA was clearly determined to appoint someone who could get them over the line, and Tuchel is undoubtedly one of few elite coaches who is capable of delivering as he faces the biggest challenge of his coaching career to date.

England might be somewhat unknown quantities, but anything short of his original brief of winning the World Cup must be deemed a failure - and the task at hand looks all the more daunting given the players who have been selected and those who were overlooked. But if Tuchel's 'team over talent' mantra bears fruit, then few will question the manager's judgement.

Asked what is required to emerge triumphant in North America, Tuchel said recently: "We need a bit of luck. We need our selection right. Stay healthy. Catch momentum. Build a brotherhood. Play with courage, hunger. And take advantage of special moments.

"Once we go hopefully to knockout football it's a game of margins. It won't be done without nerves of steel. Not everything is in our hands, but it's good to have the goal spoken out."