Five key points from Tuchel's media conference

England head coach Thomas Tuchel sat down to speak with the media at Wembley Stadium, after naming his squad for the FIFA 2026 World Cup.

Tuchel picked his 26 players for the tournament on Friday morning, with the squad revealed on a live show via the official England app.

And after switching from the live studio to the press conference room, Tuchel had more to add as the nation prepare for the big kick-off next month.

Here are five key talking points from his press conference.

Tuchel’s assurance

Speaking about his selection, Tuchel said he believes in the collective group of players picked will provide the commitment and mentality to succeed across the Atlantic.

“I can assure every fan in the country that we have 26 one-hundred per cent committed players in camp with us who know their roles, who are ready to buy into their role on and off the pitch and are ready and committed to the idea of team spirit and being unselfish.

“We have a huge chunk of youthfulness in the squad, with six players who have won titles at U21 level and Kobbie [Mainoo] who has already won titles and Nico O’Reilly who is very young and won his medals.

“We have specialists for all different kinds of scenarios, whether we are leading or chasing a result. We always want to be a strong set-piece team so we have specialists for that, and we want to be a strong penalty team so we have specialists for that.”

Toney’s return

One name in the squad which caught many an eye was the selection of striker Ivan Toney, who had only featured in one of Tuchel’s previous squads when he featured as a substitute against Senegal in Nottingham last summer.

But Tuchel admits he’s been impressed with Toney’s season in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli as well as the attacking options he brings to the squad.

“When it came down to all different kinds of scenarios, he was back in the picture,” he explained.

“I had fantastic feedback from his club coach [Matthias Jaissle], who was once my player who I have a close connection with and I have spoken to about his role there, his ability and his fitness.

“We could see that he has the numbers and I think he has special skills that can help us in a situation or scenario when we are chasing a goal. He can be a very valuable addition to Harry Kane, a presence in the box when we are pushing for a goal.

“He can take attention off other strikers and has a natural presence in the box and is a natural finisher and can help us with set-pieces as he’s very good in the air and at using his body, not to forget he’s a world-class penalty taker.

Squad rotations

With 26 players at his disposal and an intense schedule, starting with the group stage and hopefully beyond, Tuchel revealed he’s keen to balance out the minutes between his squad by rotating in those early games.

“Ideally, yes, but once we are in the group stage I will maybe adapt and change my mind to the way of rotating,” he admitted.

“The challenge is clear, it will be hot and humid and we have a game in altitude so does it make sense to rotate, yes, and does it show to the players that we trust them, yes.

“We have a significant number of players who hope to start and it’s more than just eleven, so we will be able to rotate on a high level to spread the minutes.

“Hopefully we can do this without losing momentum or connections between the players because we haven’t played in certain formations since November and players who were unavailable to the March camp.

“History shows that it makes sense to rotate at the beginning of the tournament but I also don’t want to lose the chance to build optimism and connections on the pitch.”

Young Lions set for Florida

With a number of the squad members set to report later to the pre-World Cup camp in Miami, Tuchel has taken the chance to invite a number of young players along to help with training.

AFC Bournemouth’s Alex Scott, Fulham’s Josh King and Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha along with one other player to be confirmed will report to Miami with the rest of the squad.

“We will take some young players out who will train with us in the size of the squad that we need, and we have the two friendly matches to take care of the minutes and the load on the players,” revealed Tuchel.

“I’m happy to have these players, especially Alex who was on the list of 55 and obviously he didn’t make the first cut but the reaction of him was outstanding and the commitment and wish to be in pre-camp and a step closer to the team was not even a question for him. That showed me his character and I’m delighted he’ll be with us because that was a close call and he gets a chance to get a step closer and a cap.”

Operation second star

Right from Tuchel’s first day in the job, he has spoken about his ambition to help England get a ‘second star on the shirt’ and he hasn’t wavered from that target.

“The goal is to try and win it,” he said. “We don’t want to be shy about it, but also to respect the game and our opponents and the obstacles that come with the tournament itself.

“Of course, we need a bit of luck and we need to have our selection right. We need to stay healthy and catch a momentum to build a brotherhood, play with confidence and play with courage.

“We’ll have to take advantage of special moments. Of course, if we go into knockout football, it’s a game of margins and it will not be done without luck and nerves of steel.

“Not everything is in our hands but it’s good to just have the goal spoken out, which we did really early in our first camp.”