FIFA World Cup 2026: England Tournament Thread [R]

Jordan Henderson will get best 12th man

 

Spence maybe in with a shout, been really good to be honest imo.

 

I am impressed with our teams commitment to not having to interact with Trump.

 

You can’t expect Trump to there, we know what’s he’s up to with Infantino in the Oval Office.

 

I hoped Tuchel would resign. But he will not. But I won't write off any tournaments because of that. 2028 it is our best chance since 1996 and 2020. We have the home advantage. I don't like Tuchel, but he is still better than Robson, Taylor, Venables, Hoddle, Keegan, Sven, McClaren, Capello, Hodgson and Allardyce for me.

 

Is this sarcasm?

 

I’m really impressed that England approached the match with complete professionalism and came away with the win. I understand it’s the match that no team wants to play because it means you fell one step short of the final, but your mentality in moments like this says a lot about your culture.

Instead of sulking or treating it like a meaningless exhibition, England played with utter professionalism and respect for the competition. Winning the third-place playoff won’t erase the disappointment of missing the final, but it shows a winning mentality and the ability to respond to adversity. That’s the kind of mindset that successful national teams build on from one World Cup cycle to the next major tournament.

 

Why arent we stat padding Kane's record ****** *****

Besides, what a result!!! You're telling me Argentina wouldve come back to 6 Goals or will they ever come through England playing like that?!!!

 

Tbh that win is crucial, i mean for a lot of England fans this year was the year. Having two Superstars in Kane and Bellingham along with Rice and the Boys.It seemed like now or never, but morely it seemed England were set up for the win! This win shall give hope to that same group of people.

 

Watching the highlights back, that'll be one of the most memorable games in World Cup history.

Seeing the players smile and having fun the whole game was pretty awesome. There was no flopping, no poor refereeing, and virtually no arguing and it brought out the best in sportsmanship in everyone. More dribbling, more shots, and you could tell most of the players were playing with free minds and no pressure, which was perhaps the cleanest match during this World Cup.

- Mbappe becoming the most prolific World Cup scorer of all time.
- Saka scoring a hat-trick (also class from Jude to give Saks the penalty attempt).
- Bellingham setting the England record for most goals in a tournament.

We were dreading the 3rd place game, but it turned into a classic and blueprint on how to approach one by going all-out attack. It was truly a beautiful game from start to finish, especially Bellingham's goal to put the icing on the cake at the end as an exquisite farewell.

Just lovely football!

 

I hope it'll turn into something and I'm optimistic for the upcoming Nations League and Euros.

The game yesterday I believe will/have turned some heads in a positive way. England still beat France in the knockout round in a classic goal fest at a World Cup where both teams were playing a similar game, but England were more clinical. This was against a France team who played their big guns for far more minutes than ours (never had Kane or Gordon on). I think this'll do England a great deal of confidence as far as approaching France differently in a good way moving forward in major tournaments if we were to play them.

It feels weird winning your last game in a tournament while not finishing first, but I'll take that.

 

I was wrong about him before the tournament. He's a great guy to have come off the bench for defense and showed numerous times he can get forward and cause havoc. Literally drew two penalty kicks (Norway was probably wrongly chalked off).

 

Half right.

 

I have no evidence of me saying it, but I really believed England could get to a semifinal before the World Cup primarily because I knew Brazil up to much in a potential quarterfinal. I was probably naive in a healthy way with that thinking. Having said that, it's not wise to have a bunch of faith in Tuchel after the Argentina display. It would be like an unhealthy marriage where someone has a huge red flag, but instead of questioning you go, "well let's hope you learn from your mistake and become better because of it!"

It's pretty pointless to suggest he'll get sacked because the FA won't do it and it appears Tuchel is more than willing to walk through hell in a gasoline suit from the media/fan pressure to stay on. I believe him when he says he genuinely loves the job and wants to continue for the long hall. I won't tell anybody how to think, but I'll back Tuchel with a much shorter leash and wouldn't be sorry if he left or got sacked somehow. I hope and would like to think Tuchel and England never take the Argentina 1-0 approach ever again.

 

Ron Greenwood over Tuchel is a big shout.

 

Don't forget the brilliance of Nottingham Forrest and Brian Clough in 1978 ( winning the English Football League First Division aka the Premier League today ) in their very first season since being promoted again . Followed by winning the European Cup ( today known as the UCL ) in their first ever appearance in the UCL in 1979 and then doing it again consecutively in 1980 ( being invited back as the previous year's winners ).

Something like that , especially today with big money ruling the sport , is highly unlikely to ever occur again .

Michael Sheen played Brian Clough in " The Damned United " .

 

The most impressive thing about this is the amount of goals he's scored in the knockout stages.
He has 12 goals in 12 knock out matches. Nobody else in history has more then 8. Messi could reach or pass 8 tonight (he has 7), but Mbappe is more likely to extend his lead than be caught in 2030.
The next most from active players are Kane with 6 and Bellingham with 5.

 

Good result although we almost blew it again second half with the chances France squandered.

I'm confused why Rashford was pulled for Watkins and not Tony? was he injured?

We need to sort out our defence for the next tournament.

 

Why is Saka apparently fit enough to play a full meaningless "friendly" but not fit enough for at least 25mins off the bench in a semi against Argentina so Tuchel can bring on defender after defender instead??? Great tactics, Mr. Tuchel!

 

One of the pleasant surprises of the tournament. He’s a great asset to have in the squad, and physically he’s on another planet

 

The only media who seem to still be full on hostile to Tuchel is the Sun - who were one of the only ones to back Tuchel when hired but are now full of negative headlines about him.

The Spain match is key I think. If that ends in Wembley moaning or booing things will go back negative again.
I’ve just remembered he will quite likely recall Ben White and I think he could still get booed at bit.

Knowing recent Tuchel we will beat Spain and everyone will be happy but then we will lose to Croatia and/or Czechia a few days later

 

He is one of the breakout players of the World Cup. Definitely the positive surprise for England.

Interesting to hear the players say that it is a fact that they're the best England team since 66. Good that they're taking the positive from it. The mentality does appear good. We're forever going to wince in memory of the coaching capitulation against Argentina. The question is what will Tuchel learn from this tournament?

 

We won’t find out that answer for a while even with the Nations League matches to come.
It will be a huge disappointment if next March through we not playing a knockout two legged tie and instead we have been relegated in 4th place. Even being in a third place relegation battle will raise many questions.

Yesterday has at least reassured me Tuchel will likely take the Nations League seriously and will not just experiment for six matches and hope it goes well.

 

We need to target the Nations League. It is an opportunity to win something. If we win that then the players will get a sense of achievement and a winning feeling. Also, we play competitive matches against good teams. We have really missed that in recent years.

 

Thomas Tuchel on Bukayo Saka, who voiced his frustration at not playing more in the World Cup. Scored a hat-trick today. “Bukayo is a fantastic footballer, a key player for us, and he showed it again today. He was excellent. He was ready to go in the World Cup but I still felt a… pic.twitter.com/dulNoiJaQH

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 19, 2026

Tuchel on Mainoo. "Kobbie was injured in the last training session yesterday morning. He felt a sharp pain in the back".

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 19, 2026

Thomas Tuchel looked more safe in his job after England finished third in the world. After the madcap 6-4 win over France, England’s head coach sounded more confident than in a gruelling press conference on the eve of the third-place play-off. He found his Miami voice. Tuchel’s… pic.twitter.com/p6nGObOBk8

— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) July 19, 2026

Would not surprise me if Henderson is still involved for the Nations Leagus at least. Particularly the 4 match camp is here Tuchel might feel his leadership is needed