This World Cup may be a 32-team knockout but England must start with a win

Football

Wed June 17, 2026 · 1w ago

The ecological time bomb that hums in the background of a baking North America is supposed to fill us with dread but in all honesty seeing the sun beat down on the players, it’s difficult not to bask in the warm glow of a summer World Cup.

The first in eight long years hits with a wave of nostalgia. It’s a cliché to say there is nothing like it but there is nothing like it. The wall charts, the pub gardens, the history, the golden-domed trophy...even in its new form the World Cup is irresistible.

We shouldn’t be lured in by a tournament which has divided opinion so much, but cognitive dissonance is football’s most enduring quality these days and, well, we can’t help it.

The group stage will pass in a blur, but what will unfurl is worth the wait: a straight knockout tournament comprising of the traditional 32 nations.

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This is when the World Cup really starts, you might say, although England are among the few nations who begin with a must-win fixture.

Beat Croatia on Wednesday and England will surely top the group, meaning a third-place team in the round of 32, Mexico in the round of 16, and Brazil in the quarter-finals.

That’s difficult (the prospect of facing the hosts in Mexico City should make your blood run cold), but not as tough as Colombia in the 32 and the favourites Spain in the last 16, which probably awaits if England finish runners-up to Croatia.

Thomas Tuchel needs to start with a bang, unheard of for England, but then so too is winning the World Cup, surely a realistic goal this time around despite the oppressive heat.

They have a brilliant in-game tactician in charge: a Champions League winning-coach who knows how to adapt to the conditions and how to play the game-state.

Thomas Tuchel's England must start their World Cup with a win

In that respect, and many others, he is the anti-Gareth Southgate, a thoughtful and calm tactician who has looked unflappable, and mildly amused, by the English hyperbole that creates the Impossible Job.

His Germanness – his capacity to ignore the noise and simply coach - might be his secret weapon. Already we see this in his unprecedented decision to build a functioning team rather than cram England’s most talented players into the starting XI.

These are the qualities that make Tuchel’s England one of the favourites - and that leave England supporters a little cold on the eve of the tournament.

Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, Morgan Rogers and Bukayo Saka somehow spinning around Harry Kane looks more exciting on a team sheet, but Tuchel has ignored the clamour. By the end, Southgate could not.

It’s hard to imagine Tuchel being pulled into the same emotional space, dragged into Dear England romancing and the heaviness it brings.

Nevertheless England remain flawed.

Saka’s fitness issues and club form leave England light on the wings, where Anthony Gordon has suddenly emerged as a vital component of the attack. John Stones has barely played for Manchester City this season but is expected to forge a brand new partnership with Ezri Konsa. Nico O’Reilly is inexperienced.

'Anthony Gordon has suddenly emerged as a vital component of the attack'

The decision not to bring Adam Wharton could backfire when Tuchel seeks midfield options in the latter stages, when Kobbie Mainoo may prove a little raw for the big occasion.

But really, these are minor quibbles, no larger than those of the other favourites, among whom there is no perfect team.

Indeed the energy in England’s 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in their final warm-up was a good omen of a squad gelling together, and although it might not be the all-star XI of 2006 Tuchel’s team has balance, tactical intelligence, cool heads, Arsenal set-pieces – and Kane.

Saka and Declan Rice in-swinging those corners surely has to be maximised (although navigating the club politics of revealing Nicola Jover secrets might be tricky) but that’s nothing compared to England possessing, for the very first time, a decently-rested and in-form Kane at a major tournament.

England’s World Cup rests on Kane, at least in theory, at least in the hearts and minds of supporters.

Now the matches are underway, we've found that we are 10 years old again, praying for our superstar strike to give us a Geoff Hurst moment.

This time, he really might.

Group previews

Outright previews

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