Tuchel reacts to England's win over Wales

England head coach Thomas Tuchel saw his side pick up where they left off in September, with a 3-0 win over Wales in the Alzheimer's Society International at Wembley.

Following their World Cup qualifying victories over Andorra and Serbia last month, the Three Lions were at it quickly on Thursday evening as first-half goals from Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka proved enough to overcome Craig Bellamy’s Red Dragons.

There were no goals to follow in the second half, but with their next qualifier against Latvia in Riga to come next week, Tuchel was pleased with his team’s response having only reported for duty on Monday.

Joke of a strike 🔥pic.twitter.com/P7ofau5ksP

— England (@England) October 9, 2025

“We had one-and-a-half training days to prepare against a well-trained team and we did very well,” he said.

“We had an excellent first half, we were 3-0 up very quickly but we could have been four, five or 6-0 up at half time.

“It was very, very good, but we couldn't score the fourth, the fifth one.

“We had chances in the second half, Morgan [Rogers], Anthony Gordon had two big chances. You need a goal to keep the whole thing going, have some impact from the bench. It is not easy, but the effort was there.

 

“It was very clear what we wanted; it was a different approach tactically in the same structure. The pressing triggers were different because Wales play differently.

“It is a complicated team to play against, they are very well trained. The work that we put in in the first half to not let them escape deserves a lot of credit.”

Rogers opened his senior England account with the opening goal within three minutes, and Tuchel has been happy with the impact the Aston Villa man has made since joining the squad.

“He is what he is, he is a number ten, he fights for his place,” he added.

“He is, at the moment, ready and he is an important player and at the moment he is in a good way.”

The Three Lions squad will now turn their attention back to their European Qualifiers, when they head to play Latvia in Riga on Tuesday evening where they will be looking to take another step towards next summer’s World Cup in North America.