Category Sports News

Thomas Tuchel believes England will go into the 2026 World Cup as “underdogs” and says they have “no chance” of succeeding unless they unite as a team.

England have reached successive European Championship finals but have not gone beyond the semi-finals at a World Cup since winning the competition in 1966.

The Three Lions, who lost against France in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup, will qualify for next year’s edition in North America if they beat Latvia in Riga on Tuesday.

“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.

Speaking about his team selection for the current international break, he added: “We try to collect the guys who in the end have the glue and cohesion to be the best team, because we need to arrive [at the World Cup] with the best team.”

Tuchel, 52, took charge of England in January and has won five of his six games, with his sole defeat coming in a friendly against Senegal.

He was handed an 18-month contract, with the primary goal of leading England to World Cup glory.

“If you’ve never won Wimbledon, you may be one of the favourites but you are not the favourite,” Tuchel said.

“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.”

Tuchel gets his latest opportunity to cast an eye over his options when England play Wales in a friendly on Thursday, and then Latvia in a World Cup qualifier on 14 October.

But the former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager omitted Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, who were regulars under Gareth Southgate, from his latest squad, while Reece James has dropped out with an injury.

Talisman Harry Kane will also sit out the friendly with Wales with a foot problem but is expected to return against Latvia.

Former boss Southgate created a tight-knit squad during his tenure – something former captain Steven Gerrard said wasn’t the case during his time with the ‘Golden Generation’ – and Tuchel wants to ensure that spirit remains.

“Let’s go step by step and it just buys into the other step. We build a team that is ready to go step by step and play as a team, and no-one wants hopefully to play against us,” Tuchel said.

“When I hear people talking about their titles in international football or their missed chances I hear always the same song: we have been a team or we haven’t been a team. It is always the same song in international football.

Tuchel is obviously correct when he states the men’s side haven’t won a major trophy for decades, and that rivals have won it numerous times since England’s 1966 triumph.

There have been six different winners of the World Cup since England’s sole World Cup win, with three of those winning it three times and two others twice.

But does that really make England underdogs? On form, you would have to suggest not.

Tuchel’s men are ranked fourth in the world, only behind Spain, France and Argentina, and are topping their qualification group with a perfect record after five matches.

They have been losing finalists in the past two European Championships, while their record of a semi-final and a quarter-final in the past two World Cups is not too shabby either.

Tuchel’s underdog claim makes a lot more sense, though, if you take the expected weather conditions into account across Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Extreme heat is expected to be a factor during the tournament, with players from Europe expected to feel the effect in particular.

Ten of the 11 World Cups held in Europe have been won by European teams, but it is a completely different story when the tournament is played in the Americas.

Each of the seven tournaments hosted there had featured a South American winner, until Germany broke the streak in 2014, and since then Argentina won in the heat of Qatar.

Spain were the first European team to win the World Cup outside the continent, when they lifted the trophy in South Africa in 2010.

Bruno Fernandes wants to stay at Manchester United, Harry Maguire is hoping to earn a new contract with the Red Devils and Bernardo Silva is ready to leave Manchester City.

Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, 31, does not plan on leaving the club in January, despite interest in the Portugal midfielder from Saudi Arabia. (Talksport)

United and England defender Harry Maguire, 32, is hoping to sign a new contract with his current deal at Old Trafford set to expire at the end of the season. (Sun)

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva, 31, is set to leave the club at the end of the season, with a number of Saudi clubs and Benfica interested in the Portugal international. (GiveMeSport)

Chelsea will listen to offers for 19-year-old English forward Tyrique George in January (Football Insider)

West Ham, Real Sociedad and Valencia are all in a race to sign Real Madrid and Brazil striker Endrick, 19, on loan in January. (Estadio Deportivo – in Spanish)

MLS club Orlando City want to sign Tottenham’s Richarlison, 28, in the summer of 2026 and has spoken with the Brazil forward’s camp. (Fabrizio Romano)

Juventus’ Dusan Vlahovic, 25, wants to move to the Premier League in 2026 with the Serbia striker preferring Chelsea or Tottenham. (TBR Football)

“Questions will be asked” of Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor following her side’s underwhelming 1-1 draw with Twente in their Women’s Champions League opener, says former England forward Lianne Sanderson.

Chelsea were favourites heading into the tie, having put nine goals past the Dutch champions across two group-stage meetings last season.

And after tournament heavyweights Barcelona, who have knocked Chelsea out in the semi-finals in each of the past three editions, thrashed Bayern Munich 7-1 on Tuesday, the Blues would have been hoping for a statement win of their own as they search for a maiden European trophy.

Instead, they were forced to settle for a point, with Sandy Baltimore’s 71st-minute penalty cancelling out Danique van Ginkel’s opener for the hosts.

Chelsea’s “disjointed” performance was the product of the seven changes made to their starting XI, according to Sanderson, who said Bompastor “took Twente lightly” and made the “wrong team selection”.

Ellie Carpenter, Millie Bright, Baltimore, and Aggie Beever-Jones were the only players retained from Friday’s Women’s Super League draw with Manchester United.

“Questions will be asked of Sonia because this is the competition all Chelsea fans want to win. It’s only one game but you look at other teams, like Barcelona, and they got off to a flyer,” Sanderson said on Disney+.

“Bompastor made too many changes. It looked disjointed. Too many changes, the chemistry wasn’t there. A lot of the players that started had minimal minutes.

“Fans will feel frustrated. Twente deserved that. Most people expected Chelsea to go on and win it, so fair play.

“Ultimately, Bompastor is going to have to make some difficult decisions in all competitions. She is still trying to find her best XI. She can’t keep everybody happy.

Chelsea outperformed Twente in many of the stats. They registered 20 shots to their hosts’ nine and had 64% possession.

Guro Reiten had several attempts on goal, Alyssa Thompson had a second-half strike ruled out for offside, Sjoeke Nusken and Baltimore both brought saves out of Diede Lemey, and Maika Hamano put a golden opportunity over the bar in the first half after a smart pullback from Oriane Jean-Francois.

But for all their control and dominance, they only converted one of their six attempts on target – something Bompastor said is “not enough” in a European competition.

“It’s not a good result at all,” she told Disney+. “We wanted to start the campaign with three points and a victory.

“Out of possession, I’m quite happy with the performance, even if we conceded a goal. In possession, you need to show more desire, especially when you are in the box. We created a lot of opportunities and couldn’t score more than one.

While critical of Chelsea’s wastefulness in front of goal, former England midfielder Fara Williams praised their ability to come from behind and salvage a draw.

“The positive they can take is they come away with a point,” Williams said. “The important thing is they put points on the board. They did that in coming back and showed they can stay in games and they are not easy to beat.

“It wasn’t the three points they wanted but it certainly was a point that will be crucial come the end of the group stage.”

Bompastor also alluded to her side’s mentality, calling on her players to “take the learnings” from this performance and make sure they “mentally turn around” to focus on their next game – a home outing against Tottenham in the Women’s Super League on Sunday.

Sanderson, however, did not sugarcoat what is at stake for Chelsea, nor the pressure on the shoulders of a team backed by huge investment – but without a European title.