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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay

England have their best chance of winning World Cup since 1970 – and Tuchel is the key

Thomas Tuchel England World Cup Jude Bellingham Cup World Anthony Gordon Eberechi Eze Elliot Anderson Fabio Capello
Thomas Tuchel smiles after his England team won their World Cup 2026 qualifier against Latvia.
Thomas Tuchel has overseen a perfect World Cup qualifying campaign and has shown a fearless streak with regard to squad selection and media duties. Photograph: Mateusz Słodkowski/Getty Images

We’re on our way. We are Tom’s 26. This time, more than any other time, this time. We’re going to find a way. Find a way to get it right. This time. Well, maybe. Next time is also good. And the time after that. You don’t like this time? We have other times. Hey, Spain are pretty good right now aren’t they.

There is an entire multilayered history of Englishness in the basic tone and mood of English World Cup excitement. It is easy to forget that when the 1982 squad, AKA Ron’s 22, released the song This Time, a tortured paean to finally erasing their own ancestral agony, England had actually won the World Cup only 16 years earlier.

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