England are one of the most prolific national teams when it comes to set-piece goals, but why is that?
In the opening game of the 2026 World Cup, we've already seen England bag two goals from set-pieces against Croatia.
Harry Kane's penalty (on the second attempt) and then a thumping header from a corner proved the value of a well-worked set-piece routine.
England's set-piece coaches
Like many teams at club and international level, England are indeed benefiting from a specific set-piece coach.
Thomas Tuchel gets his assistant manager, Anthony Barry to oversee a lot of the set-piece work for the Three Lions.
However, he's not the only one looking into that specific side of the tactical game. Tuchel also brought in Paul Quilter as a dedicated set-piece coach.
Quilter previously worked at Chelsea as an analyst between 2011-2025 (with a short spell at Aldershot Town thrown in for good measure).
It is there where Quilter met Tuchel and earned a reputation as a man he can trust with this big responsibility, so it's not surprising that he asked him to join him at international level.
Speaking to The Times, Tuchel acknowledged the work of Quilter and Barry, saying: "Full credit to my assistant coach and our set-piece coach."
In a press conference following his squad announcement for the tournament, he explained how set-pieces are a specific focus, adding: "We have specialists with us for all different scenarios.
"We always said we want to be a strong set-piece team so we have specialists for that."
