Tuchel: 'Everything was on a high level'

Thomas Tuchel was pleased with what he saw from his team, as England swept aside Costa Rica in Orlando to take one more step towards the FIFA World Cup 2026.

An early goal from Declan Rice set the Three Lions on their way, before a second-half penalty from Anthony Gordon and a late header from Ollie Watkins sealed the victory.

“We did very well,” admitted Tuchel after the game.

“We deserved to win, we should've had more goals, we could’ve easily scored more and we created a lot.

“The attitude, the energy and the intensity was of a very high level. Everyone did well. It's not about individual players, today was a very good team performance.

“We wanted to have this push to the next level and we clearly got it. Everyone in the stadium could feel it and the reaction of the fans was amazing. We did a lot for it, we worked hard, our counter-pressing was good, the defending, attitude, togetherness - everything was on a very high level."

It’s now just one week to go before England’s World Cup opener against Croatia in Dallas, and the England squad have had ten days of training in Florida since arriving in the USA at the start of June.

And Tuchel believes his squad are in a strong position going into the tournament.

“Tonight just makes my mind very calm, because we are on absolutely the right way,” he said.

“I’m very proud of what I saw today, the team spirit and the behaviour. The guys who came in were super influential, the guys who came out were pushing from behind. It was exactly what we wanted.

“We saw very good substitutes, who were of course disappointed to not start, but they came in and played with the same intensity and the same quality against a more tired opposition, so well done to everyone.”

The head coach remained tight-lipped when asked about whether he knows who will be on course to start in that first game with Croatia, but with a training game against a local team from Miami behind closed doors on Thursday to come before the squad head to their World Cup base in Kansas, there’s plenty of time to decide.

“I will find now an XI for tomorrow's game and then I have six days to think,” he revealed.

“We’ll do a match tomorrow, another friendly match to get some minutes into the legs of the players who didn't play so much today.

“Then the players get one and a half days off, to switch off physically but also mentally and then we change location, go to Kansas and prepare for Croatia.

“I think what we saw today was exactly what we wished for, exactly what we wanted, so I am very calm. I am very proud of the way we won today and the way we played. Next stop Kansas!”