Tuchel: ‘We will not stop hunting’

England will be hoping to record their best finish at the FIFA World Cup since 1966 when they take on France in the 2026 Bronze Final on Saturday 18 July (10pm BST).

They will have the opportunity to finish third - something the Three Lions have not done before - after they were beaten in the semi-final for the second time in three World Cup tournaments.

Speaking to the media ahead of the game, England head coach Thomas Tuchel admitted that defeat to Argentina was “very painful” and that it is the squad’s “scar that we carry”.

However, with a home European Championships on the horizon, Tuchel was bullish over his determination to close the gap on the world’s best - starting against France.

'It was a painful one'

“To put it into context, we lost our first official match together. In 14 matches (not including friendlies), it was our first defeat (in the 15th game),” the boss said.

“It was a painful one, we played in a semi-final against the reigning World Champions. At 85 minutes we were 1-0 up, we played against the best player in the world [Lionel Messi] and we lost 2-1 which is painful.

“We were deservedly in the semi-final, we are one of the top four nations and we wanted this place in the semi-final and we wanted more. We are heavily disappointed because we wanted to play in the final, we believed we could do it, we built something to have the genuine belief we could do it, we were dreaming about it.

“Still, I believe three other nations [Argentina, France and Spain] have expectations to win the title. That is not us, they are on a level where they expect to win, we are not there yet.”

Tuchel 'a better manager with every experience'

He continued: “There is a gap to close and that is what we will do from tomorrow. We will not stop chasing, we will not stop hunting, we will not stop challenging. We have a gap to close, like I said, and we have things to improve from a football matter. This is the context.”

The World Cup is Tuchel’s first tournament as an international manager, and despite the disappointing outcome, the German insisted the experience will help.

“Every day I’m a better manager with every experience,” he said. “Today, I’m a better manager than yesterday.”