FIFA World Cup 2026: England Tournament Thread [R]

I'm totally up for the JordShank Redemption. Winning goal in extra time in final.

 

Maybe he picked up an injury in training and that's why he didn't play today

 

Tuchel made a very clear statement about Henderson today. He is important, but not on the pitch.

 

LOL!

 

Fingers crossed

 

Maybe he was rested so eh could captoaj the behind closed doors match tomorrow.

Does Mainoo coming on if Rice needs a rest work through. Is Stones or James there fesable considering those two are not the most built to last players.

 

BBC Player ratings
Gordon 7.67, Rice. 6.31, Anderson 7.25, Watkins 7.07
Kane 6.68, Bellingham 6.59, Eze 6,41, Saka 6.39, Konsa 6.25, Rashford 6.24, O’Reilly 6.20, Mainoo 6.19, Guehi 6.19, Rogers 6,18, Madueke 6,16, Stones 6,12, Pickford 6.03
Spence 5.93, James 5.91, Quansah 5.72, Burn 5.70, D Henderson 5,65

Costa Rica between 5.22 (Sequeira) and 3.87 (Quiros)

 

As a supporter of his now-former club, I thought Gordon was outstanding. He even made a decent attempt to dive into the box, as Mitchell shoved him at 33'...

It's a shame this couldn't have been a first-round match later this month; England's feeble WC record against CONCACAF teams could use some wins. And with the way Sequeira was flying around the goal and those awful misses by England (Madueke!)...I wouldn't have been surprised at yet another draw (ala 2014) with a CR side

Overall, the ENG players looked relaxed in humid, post-storm Orlando. Maybe it was the motherly warmth of Madam Koroleva that put them at ease; these boys have all grown up under the reign of a queen, after all...

 

Scored 2 when he went off.

 

Scored two after he went off.

 

The impossible has happened

 

That's what happens when Tuchel isn't experimenting puts out the best possible team. I for one thought O'Reilly was solid and helped create a good balance.

 

Definitely has proven me wrong so far. Really wanted someone like Lewis Hall or a midfielder like Wharton taken, but Spence has been decent.

 

Tuchel is like none of them and is a far better international coach who as someone pointed out, speaks very well, honest, and good for a quote.

 

Overall very pleased with Costa Rica game.

Did a much better job at creating chances and unlocking a team in low block. Another takeaway was how incredibly efficient England were at retaining possession quickly after losing the ball. That might the best quality the team has and if they can bottle that up then England will be a very difficult team to beat. May not be the flashiest, but a very tough team to score against. I've watched numerous friendlies over the past week and even the likes of France, Spain, Croatia, and the Netherlands all allowed goals or even a few guilt-edge chances against low quality opponents. Albeit it's only Costa Rica and New Zealand, England never allowed a real goal-scoring opportunity against them for what it's worth.

 

"The heat's not really a problem now."

- Declan Rice

 

So the question then comes back to, did France alternatively make the right decision to leave as one of the latest.

I know Portugal might be the ones who are the last to head to the USA but that’s a very hot country at times naturally.

Wonder if the French have got their preparation wrong?

 

Still think a leftback in the mould of Hall/Shaw would suit Tuchel´s system the most but yeah, can´t argue with Spence´s performances in these friendlies so good for him!

 

Costa Rica aren't very good (they finished below Haiti and Honduras in world cup qualifying) but they are ranked 51 in the world which is 34 places higher than New Zealand and we played much better last night than we did on Saturday.

I've always said Rashford should start over Gordon, but last night I've changed my mind. Gordon was our best player, created the first goal and scored a really nice pen for our second.

I thought the midfield of Anderson-Rice-Bellingham did well, Bellingham pressed well and showed class at times like in the build up to the second goal, I still think he can do more but it's looking encouraging, Madueke looked lively but lacked end product, it was an off night for Kane but it's good that other players scored other than him.

Personally I thought the subs did well too, Rogers is still coming in for a bit of stick because of the chance he missed but he did well, created a couple of good chances and got himself in good positions, Eze was good too and could have scored a couple, Watkins did well when he came on and could have had at least one more goal, Rashford good too, only really Saka who looked a bit under par but that's probably because he isn't fully fit which is a concern.

The only disappointment was we didn't score more goals. Madueke really should have taken that chance from that Bellingham through ball and Rogers should have buried his 1 v 1 chance too.

I think/hope this is our team to start the first game:

Pickford
James Konsa Guehi O'Reilly
Anderson Rice Bellingham
Saka (if fit) Kane Gordon

 

I'm still here puzzled at his call up. Saka's fitness means he will be called upon more. If I am Tuchel, I would instruct him to wait for Kane and the rest, even if he dribbles past the keeper, in order to make the pass but not at any point go for goal.

This is the only way with Madueke.

 

Madueke offers that run in behind which is invaluable, he just needs to improve his finishing and he'll be a very good player.

I'm quitely happy with last night, it was encouraging to see us pressing well even during the game and the sharpness of the midfield was good

 

France have their group games in Boston, Philadelphia, and New Jersey so not likely to be extreme heat locations.

Currently the forecast for New Jersey on the day of their first game is a high of 25 degrees (though it seems they are going to be lucky and avoid a heat wave there).

 

If a team plays all their groups games in mild conditions and then find themselves in a hot and humid knockout match that will disadvantage them.

Playing in very hot conditions can have a knock on effect on the next match. How much did the England - Italy match in Manaus take out of both teams for the 2nd group game in 2014? According to AI 7 teams played a match in Manaus or similarly hot and humid Cuaiba and then played a team that played elsewhere in their previous match. All 7 lost. If we play in hot and humid conditions we need to make full use of substitutes and probably change up the team next match.

 

Madueke is getting a lot of heat for this but I don't think it's egregious. The keeper closes down the space very quickly forcing Madueke into skill at speed to get around him, then you've got a defender closing the angle on the goal, Madueke tries to squeeze it inside the post and nearly does. There are so many more worse misses than this.

NONI MADUEKE, HOW DID YOU MISS THAT? 🤯🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿https://t.co/KXd3qKJ6WL

— Tekkers Foot (@tekkersfoot) June 10, 2026