The Football Association of England (FA) will conduct a comprehensive assessment of the performance of coach Thomas Tuchel and the England team after the 2026 World Cup campaign closes, when the aftertaste of the 1-2 defeat to Argentina in the semi-finals subsides.
Tuchel is facing a wave of criticism from fans and experts after England missed victory even though Anthony Gordon opened the scoring. Lionel Messi then shone, contributing to helping Argentina come back to win a ticket to the World Cup final for the second consecutive time.
While Argentina is preparing to enter the gold cup match with Spain, England will face France in the third-place match.
According to British media, although the FA publicly expressed support for Tuchel, this agency will still conduct a comprehensive assessment of the German coach as well as the entire team at the World Cup.
Technical director John McDermott and the FA's professional department will be in charge of the evaluation process. The report also said that the level of confidence in Tuchel after the tournament will depend on the results of this review.
Under Tuchel's leadership, England has qualified for the World Cup semi-finals for the fourth time in history. The "Three Lions" also made their mark with a victory considered one of the most impressive away performances in history against Mexico at the Azteca Stadium. However, their tactical operation and performance are still constantly controversial.
Before the World Cup, Tuchel extended his contract with the FA until after EURO 2028. CEO Mark Bullingham once revealed that this contract has a clause related to performance.
It's sad that we are very close to the goal. The players and coach Tuchel have contributed as much as possible. The entire team of players, coaching staff and staff worked tirelessly throughout the tournament" - Mark Bullingham shared.
After the defeat to Argentina, former captain Wayne Rooney was one of the strongest critics, saying that England had retreated too deeply and lost the game too early.
However, Tuchel affirmed that he is still the right person to continue leading the England team: "Surely 100%. We still have a lot to improve and I am completely ready to do that.
The German strategist also emphasized that he loves his current job and believes that the England team has not yet fully shown their ability.
I love this place very much and love every day working here. I still feel there is a gap between what I witnessed on the training ground and what the team showed in the matches. We can control the ball better and prove ourselves to be a more quality team.
I believe that is still in this team. But we need to rise one more level if we want to conquer big titles".
The lesson from the 2026 World Cup is very clear, England needs to stop the habit of losing the advantage in big matches if they want to nurture the ambition to win EURO 2028.
