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Ordinarily, it would not be much of a story. A kid has a game of highs and lows in front of millions all over the globe.

The sticky part for Luka Vuskovic is that he and his entourage have made plenty of noise to get him into the media spotlight over the last fortnight.

The 19-year-old contracted to Tottenham Hotspur has been heavily linked with a mega-money move away before even representing them in a competitive game.

Vuskovic was linked with the likes of Barcelona and Bayern Munich during his loan at Hamburg last season, though Spurs have maintained they would rather keep such an asset.

More recently, he has been the subject of two bids from Brighton & Hove Albion, who are selling Jan Paul van Hecke to Spurs for £52m – and the wonderkid is said to be keen on becoming the Seagulls’ next budding prospect to sell for major profit. He is resistant to another loan and seemingly not fancying his chances under Roberto De Zerbi.

Brighton’s highest offer so far has come in at £35m, but Tottenham are believed to be holding out for a fee in the region of £60m. If Vuskovic is to live with the ruthless intensity and fast pace of the Premier League, then Brighton’s bids don’t actually seem too derisory now.

In Croatia’s eventual 4-2 defeat to England in their World Cup opener, their youngsters shone through. The man who scored their first equaliser, Martin Baturina of Como, is 23. He was assisted by Petar Sucic, Inter’s 22-year-old attacking midfielder.

That move actually started with a contribution from centre-back Vuskovic. A mighty and meaty 6’4”, he took his initiative to step free of Croatia’s back three, from which he started slap bang in the middle, to crunch into Jude Bellingham just inside England’s own half and win back possession, with the ball flying past Jordan Pickford a few passes and one shot later.

Despite an opening 45 minutes which saw four goals fly in, that was the only time Vuskovic was forced to do some actual defending. England’s main threat was from set plays, with Noni Madueke winning a penalty off the wily Luka Modric following a corner, and then Harry Kane heading home a wicked delivery from Declan Rice.

Coming into the break, Vuskovic must have assumed the step up to the World Cup stage was a doddle. He had snatched the soul of a Real Madrid “Galactico” and, at the very least, didn’t look out of place defending Kane in open play. This would have followed the rapid trajectory of his career so far, after all. So far, so good.

But whatever Thomas Tuchel said to his Three Lions at the interval felt like a personal attack on Vuskovic, whose entire performance was turned inside-out within 90 seconds of the restart.

England worked the ball round the back nicely before Elliot Anderson whipped a pass into the channel, allowing Bellingham to run at the stretched Croatia backline. Central midfielder Mario Pasalic had to cover for the vacant Josko Gvardiol at left centre-back, but didn’t have the legs to keep up.

That left Vuskovic as the last defender ahead of Bellingham. And he didn’t want any of that smoke. The teenager shuffled inside to cut out the passing lane to Madueke instead, leaving England’s buccaneering No 10 the space he needed to gallop into the box and finish.

A wrong decision? Sure. That happens. Vuskovic is not even 20 yet, mistakes are part of his life. What was more alarming was how off the pace he looked.

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This is as quick as Vuskovic should ever look in his entire life. Yet here he was moving with the same slow speed you have when trying to flee the monsters in your nightmares. Someone unfamiliar with the two would have guessed Bellingham was several years Vuskovic’s younger given the stark difference in athleticism.

England’s bombardment, again largely through their dead-ball prowess, dominated the rest of Vuskovic’s time on the pitch before he was hooked after 66 minutes.

This sudden drop in market value doesn’t benefit any party involved here. Spurs still hold all the cards with the player on a long contract – and Brighton would now need to pay over the odds to get their hands on someone who is ultimately still a project.

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If you drew a Venn diagram of Emma Hayes’ critics and the fragile folk who cry “snowflake” about others, then congrats on drawing a circle.

The ex-Chelsea and current USA women’s coach is upsetting all the right people at this World Cup during her ITV punditry duties, reprising a role for which she first drew plaudits at Euro 2020.

It’s safe to say though not everyone is a fan. Earlier in the tournament, one of ITV’s videos on X, a mere snippet of Hayes’ analysis so far, prompted a flurry of negative replies. Two mentions of “kitchen”, one asking for “two sugars”, another yelling abuse through their keyboard that is not fit for publication. Seven profiles had either the England flag or Union Jack emoji in their handles or bios.

Meanwhile a Facebook post from a well-known outlet led to one hurling direct sexist abuse at Hayes, another began “not been sexist” – always a solid start, and that’s being you imbecile – before proceeding to say “if it was baking or gardening then I am all for free speech”.

Then, with Hayes analysing England’s match with Croatia during the drinks breaks on Wednesday night, an X post from Joey Barton’s podcast read, depressingly to no one’s surprise, “Give it a rest Emma love”.

Are you starting to get a picture of the people Hayes is rattling?

"There was something inside those players that wasn't going to let them yield today"

Ange Postecoglou reflects on that historic performance from Cape Verde! pic.twitter.com/8lbmlyzauc

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 15, 2026

For all the insight, the dozens of minutes spent before and after matches, the segments during half-time and now even the drinks breaks, one line from Hayes drew anger more than most, when she called Cape Verde’s draw with Spain a “victory for immigration”.

Keep politics out of football! That was the response from a tidal wave of Hayes’ haters, who could not see what immigration had to do with players born in the USA, Republic of Ireland, France, Netherlands and Portugal having a say in Cape Verde’s monumental point against the reigning European champions.

More than half of Cape Verde’s squad were born overseas. Six in Rotterdam alone. Utilising this diaspora – including a LinkedIn message to Dublin-born Roberto “Pico” Lopes, initially ignored because it was in Portuguese – is the only reason this tiny archipelago nation have reached their first World Cup.

Hayes was not even mentioning immigration impulsively. This was no agenda despite what some people would like to think, because what was probably missed by those criticising her was the fact she wasn’t the first to bring it up.

“Being able to repay the efforts of our grandparents and parents, who emigrated to give us a better future, sometimes even working two jobs at the same time, is the least we can do,” Cape Verde forward Dailon Livramento told The Guardian upon their qualification last year.

“We’re a product of immigration and our identity has to reflect that,” Cape Verde head coach Pedro Leitao Brito then said in ITV’s build-up to Monday’s match. “We have so many cultures at the same time. Our players are spread across every continent.”

Captain Ryan Mendes added: “We’ve now got this young generation of quality players from the diaspora whether that’s in the Netherlands, Portugal, France alongside those of us who were born in Cape Verde.”

FFS lads, leave it out, will you? I’m trying to watch the bloody football.

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Then came her input against England. The optics were unhelpful, with the chalkboard not only tinpot, as if someone ran to the nearest shop when realising drinks breaks equals more studio time, but also rife for AI alterations – as some did when changing her tactical notes to shopping lists.

And while Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Gary Neville sat on chairs, the ITV also positioned Hayes in a corner of their New York studio, which admittedly resembled a kitchen, and that only fed the trolls for an easy pile-on. It felt naive from ITV, hung Hayes out to dry, and surely is changed going forward at this World Cup. The i Paper has asked ITV for comment.

The fact Hayes must be used to this by now does not make it any less demoralising to witness the 100th time as it was the first, and the reason she is such a magnet for abuse is obvious.

The reality is that it hurts her opponents, not only realising this woman knows more than them about football, but because she has achieved more – Barton included – than they could have dreamt of in the game they adore.

So often the root cause of trolling, jealousy rarely looks uglier than when a sad man hides behind his phone.

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Bukayo Saka, the best attacking player for the Premier League champions. Morgan Rogers, an elite No 10 who some believed should start over Jude Bellingham. Marcus Rashford, somehow the forgotten man of England’s attack over the last two years who is the second highest goalscorer in this squad. 

Those were the three players introduced by Thomas Tuchel after 72 minutes. Within 15 minutes, two had combined majestically to kill the contest and fire up England’s World Cup campaign. It’s go time – and it might just be piping hot fun.

Tuchel has always implied that he does not wish to throw the baby out with the bathwater kept warm by his predecessor. Gareth Southgate was big on the notion of “starters and finishers”. So is the new guy.

It’s one of those management speak phrases that provides a coach with an easy escape from perilous press conference questioning. Nobody is dropped to the bench because there is no hierarchy. I love them all equally. We’re all just starters and finishers, man.

It’s also entirely appropriate. The conditions of this World Cup are unique: the heat, the travel, the workload on players in the domestic season that never seems to relent. The best starting XI may well win this World Cup, but I reckon the deepest squad has the better chance.

England don’t have the deepest squad in every position. It would take chest-beating patriotism to suggest so. The full-back areas are light, particularly after Tino Livramento’s withdrawal. Central midfield has other options than Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson, but I’m not sure any of them quite do what those two manage in combination. Harry Kane is as irreplaceable as crown jewels.

But I haven’t seen any team in this World Cup so far have as devastating impact in the final third through their use of substitutes than England. Saka carried the ball like a man determined to prove that his fitness should not cause a national wobble. Rashford took his goal impeccably well, faking a shot to sit a defender down and open up the angle.

Anthony Gordon was anonymous and Noni Madueke bright and mercifully intent upon taking on his man rather than stopping. But Tuchel is adamant that however the starting wingers perform, they have attributes that will tire the minds and legs of full-backs and create time and space for those who replace them. In Dallas, that confidence was vindicated.

In the case of Saka, amazing how a frown can be turned upside down. The bad news, Bukayo, is that you might not be able to play for 90 or 120 minutes in this tournament – boo, hiss, we’re done for. The good news: I don’t think there is another England player in my lifetime who could potentially make me giggle more when given 20 minutes against a tired left-back.

What’s most fascinating – and bodes so well for England – is how this can become so self-fulfilling when it starts positively. The two starting wingers can put everything in physically knowing the next cabs off the rank will perform. Bellingham can do his superman act because Rogers is there to step in when required. A competition for places grows but so does a sense of shared ownership. First comes one wave, then another.

The environment feels different too. England were more defensively uncertain in the first half in Dallas than at any point during Gareth Southgate’s eight years of major tournament management; there is a balance to be identified and exploited. Jordan Pickford seemed unsettled with the new look. Simple straight balls threatened both central defenders.

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Nor is this criticism, merely observation. But I don’t think it’s controversial to conclude that we wouldn’t have seen a Southgate team with four players surging forward on a counter attack after 85 minutes with a one-goal lead. And if this is England’s strength, it must be exploited.

The future is now. The manager has changed. The mood will shift with it, lurching either to glory or German fraudulence; that is how life works now. England appointed the all-or-nothing manager and the next five weeks will be the whole of his truth. It’s going to take some getting used to.

But if one knock-on effect of this brave new world is two replacement wingers and a No 10 hurtling forward on a sweeping counter attack to render any late nerves redundant, I think we’re all on board. The reason that some of your favourite attacking players were left out of England’s squad is because we have an embarrassment of riches. So let’s cash them all in.

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England 4-2 Croatia (Kane 12′ pen, 42′, Bellingham 47′, Rashford 85′ | Baturina 36′, Musa 45+4′)

Many of us had England down as a multitude of things pre-tournament. Resolute? Underachievers? Thomas Tuchel’s left-field squad to prove their undoing?

Very few had them as tournament entertainers. Croatia’s “olden generation” just did not see it coming.

There were plenty of questions raised from a thrilling opening victory, not least how porous England were at times in Dallas. Especially post-hydration break.

In a tournament of plentiful shocks so far, blowing the 11th best team in the world away like this to put themselves on course to top their group is a start even less could have imagined.

In a lightning start, Harry Kane’s World Cup looked like it had got off to the most demoralising of starts as, after England were awarded a penalty just nine minutes in, a stuttered run-up failed to fool Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic from 12 yards. Encroachment from Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol gave Kane a second chance, and he made no mistake.

Loud boos rung around the stadium as the increasingly unpopular hydration break – very much not needed in the cooled stadium – stemmed England’s flow. The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders were always going to get their moment in these parts.

A superb Martin Baturina strike pegged England back, but England’s talisman just cannot be curtailed. His header late in the first half takes him level with Gary Lineker for World Cup goals. He won’t be on equal terms for long.

A leaky rearguard was again breached all too easily, however, as Petar Musa levelled on the cusp of the interval. Kane aside, England offered up more questions than answers for Thomas Tuchel in their opening 45 minutes of action.

The second half was one-way traffic until, once again, the break in play, this time for a hearty rendition of The Killers’ Mr Brightside, stopped England in their tracks.

Jude Bellingham’s superb run and finish just after restart, aided by a Croatia backline that parted like the Red Sea, edged England back in front, but Tuchel’s entertainers were not done there, wasting a host of gilt-edged chances to put the game out of reach.

Nico O’Reilly wasted the best of them, glancing a header from point-blank range wide, while Livakovic produced a sensational three successive stops to keep a rampant England at bay.

England again retreated into their shell a little, inviting pressure from Croatia onto them. Jordan Pickford never quite looked comfortable under such stress.

Marcus Rashford’s calmest head in the house was needed to seal a superb start to the tournament that takes England into dangerous territory – raised expectations.

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No other nation has looked this willing to attack and thrill in equal measure. The age-old World Cup adage is that the best defences win major tournaments. No manager has ever won the showpiece event who was not a native of the country they were representing either.

Perhaps it may be time for a change. England can now go into two very winnable games against Ghana and Panama and fill their boots even more.

Shoring things up at the back might be needed later on, but let’s not look at the negatives. That was fun. Words not always uttered when talking about watching England.

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England take on familiar faces in the group stages of this World Cup, both in terms of nations and players.

Croatia are England’s first opponents, with revenge on the mind eight years after the Three Lions lost 2-1 in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.

Ghana then boast one of the Premier League’s biggest threats, while Panama will have Harry Kane dreaming of another hat-trick.

But will it be smooth sailing into the round of 32 for Thomas Tuchel and England? Here is the lowdown on their Group L opponents… Yes, there’s a Group L.

Croatia

Fifa ranking: 11

Quick fact: Luka Modric is one of eight players at this World Cup aged 40 or over.

When do England play Croatia? 17 June, 9pm UK time.

You will probably hear pundits muse over whether Croatia’s powers are fading. Finalists at the 2018 World Cup, third four years later, it was their abrupt Euro 2024 group-stage exit which signalled this aging squad are in need of a facelift.

Luka Modric, on 198 caps, is now 40 but remains an integral member of this team, while strikers Ivan Perisic and Andrej Kramaric are 37 and 34 respectively.

Croatia will be leaning on experience heavily, therefore, with Kramaric (six) and Perisic (four) leading the way for goals in their World Cup qualifiers.

And what of the next generation? Expect 19-year-old Luka Vuskovic to start, the Tottenham Hotspur centre-back who has recently been linked with Brighton & Hove Albion, while Manchester City’s 24-year-old Josko Gvardiol is set to have the task of sticking to Kane like glue.

They’ll be confident of beating England again, but recent friendly defeats to Belgium (2-0) and Brazil (3-1) prove they are not impenetrable.

Ghana

Fifa ranking: 73

Quick fact: Ghana sacked coach Otto Addo just 72 days before the World Cup.

When do England play Ghana? 23 June, 9pm.

Winless in six games, including a 1-1 friendly draw with Wales earlier this month, Ghana were out of form heading into the World Cup – sparking a managerial change.

Enter Carlos Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson’s former Manchester United assistant who has travelled the world and then some, managing (deep breath) Portugal, Iran, Colombia, Egypt, Iran again, Qatar and then Oman since 2008.

Queiroz will lean heavily on Manchester City’s Antoine Semenyo, the winger who has emerged as one of the Premier League’s best players, while striker Inaki Williams could prove a handful.

Ghana are though without winger Mohammed Kudus due to injury, likewise Mohammed Salisu and Alexander Djiku, meaning they arrive in North America under strength.

Thomas Partey has travelled, however, and despite the former Arsenal midfielder being denied entry into Canada for Ghana’s opener against Panama – the 32-year-old faces a trial next year after pleading not guilty to seven charges of rape and one count of sexual assault – he is set to face England in Boston.

Panama

Fifa ranking: 34

Quick fact: Panama playmaker Cesar Yanis is the smallest player at this World Cup. At 5ft 3ins he is 16 inches shorter than England’s 6ft 7ins Dan Burn.

When do England play Panama? 27 June, 10pm.

If this fixture sounds familiar, that’ll be because it’s a repeat of 2018, when England ran out 6-1 winners in the group stages in Russia – Kane scoring a hat-trick on that occasion.

Eight years later, Panama are back for their second World Cup, are chasing a first-ever point, and have one of the oldest squads, the average age ticking over 30 along with Colombia and Iran.

Their best player? Arguably right-back Michael Amir Murillo of Besiktas, while their biggest threat is Ismael Diaz, the winger currently playing for Leon in Mexico, the country where midfielder Adalberto Carrasquilla also plays.

Carrasquilla ranks as one of the nation’s greatest ever players, becoming the first Panamanian to win Concacaf’ men’s player of the year award back in 2024.

No strangers to the heat with a squad who play club football predominantly in the Americas, their best chance of a shock against England will be hoping their opponents wilt at the New York New Jersey Stadium.

Panama beat USA last year and in 2024, but even a point against England would rank as their greatest result. They lost 6-2 to Brazil in a May friendly.

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KANSAS CITY STADIUM – So much for Lionel Messi’s last dance. This timeless tango from the finest footballer of his generation should leave you in no doubt that Rosario’s renaissance man can dominate another World Cup.

What magic Messi weaved here in Kansas. We are used to seeing him beat defenders with the twinkle toes that bewitched the unfortunate Algerians – what was remarkable here was him showing Father Time a clean pair of heels.

Because this hat-trick wasn’t a case of serendipity for Messi. No, pushing the age of 39, he reprised his role as Argentina’s architect-in-chief – pressing, cajoling and creating with the sort of effortless swagger that makes this game look easy. Not just the best player on the pitch but looking like he was in the mood to become the best player on the planet again.

He was already guaranteed his slice of history by making it to a record-breaking sixth World Cup but there was a nagging doubt that this might be a pale imitation of the Messi who, four years ago, lifted the burden of a nation when he hoisted the trophy in Doha. Injury worries had stalked his tournament build-up.

Lionel Messi became the oldest player ever to score multiple goals at a #FIFAWorldCup match at 38 years, 357 days

Just check out this hat-trick… pic.twitter.com/HZT8Oc2j9H

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 17, 2026

We needn’t have worried. Messi is supposed to have given up running these days but there was velocity in his fifth-minute run to sweep past Algeria’s Luca Zidane, only for assistant referee Tomasz Listkiewicz to flag for a marginal offside.

Twelve minutes later came the moment. Fed by Rodrigo De Paul, he took three touches before a beautifully struck drive beat the desperate attempt of Zidane.

A close range shot after Zidane spilled was his second of the night; a trademark side-footed finish left the partisan crowd genuflecting in unison. He celebrated each goal as if it was his first on this stage, not the 14th, 15th and record-equalling 16th.

Perhaps he sensed the fervour that had built all day in Kansas, which could have passed for Buenos Aires in the sweltering afternoon sun, such were the numbers who had made their way to the city.

Tens of thousands had jetted in for this, their numbers significantly swelled by ex-pats flying in from Miami. They thronged the city’s grand Union Station, singing and dancing, the number 10 shirt adorned with Messi seemingly ubiquitous.

But it was not just a tourist thing. The blue and white was also worn by locals, who appear less wedded to the concept of tribalism than their European counterparts. One Kansas resident waiting in the queue to have his pass scanned claimed he was much more interested in seeing Messi succeed than he was in watching his own country.

Patrick Mahomes, the quarterback of the Kansas Chiefs and friend of Messi, seemed to agree. He is a 24-carat superstar in his own right, but when the big screen panned to him in his box, he wore the wide-eyed expression of a man recognising fellow greatness.

That’s the power of the man. For all the cynicism that stalks the World Cup, you put up with it for moments of unalloyed joy like this one. Players like Messi make you do funny things.

Think about it: what would you do to witness the first brushstroke of his final masterpiece? A confession – for me, it was spending a night on the airport floor, having spotted a hole in England’s itinerary that permitted a few extra hours in the self-proclaimed “heart of America” to capture a glimpse of the GOAT. The sleepless night was worth it.

For others, it was paying up to £1,000 on resale for a seat in the cavernous Arrowhead Stadium – or hopping on a plane from the other side of the globe to witness history.

One fan from China stood outside the stadium, almost in tears at the prospect of seeing his idol, grasping a poster written in Spanish begging him for an autograph.

Everybody seemed to be smiling. Even a small band of Algerian supporters – hopelessly outnumbered – seemed enraptured when Messi bowed to the crowd at the end.

We have rightfully fretted about some worrying trends around this World Cup. But as long as players like Messi bring the joy, football will always win.

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It really all started in a dark Serbian car park.

Nine months into the job, Thomas Tuchel had just passed his first real test as England coach with flying colours, thrashing a potentially dangerous Serbian side 5-0 in a cauldron-like Belgrade.

In the aftermath of that success, which effectively booked England a World Cup spot, a group of unused substitutes chose to conduct an intense warm-down, in darkness, after celebrations had died down.

Unbeknownst to those squad players doing “box-to-box” runs next to the stadium, they were being watched by a coach already starting to formulate a winning ethos.

“It was remarkable because they have this huge tunnel going up from the ground, uphill to the dressing room, almost no light at all and the quality of the pitches was not there,” Tuchel told a small group of reporters last month.

“My coaching team were like ‘let’s do some runs’ and they went out and took our performance coach. They were not aware that Anthony Barry [Tuchel’s assistant] was watching.

“It was just so beautiful. They were just fully involved in the celebrations and in the joy after the match. To put the cherry on top like this it made us feel very, very good because they didn’t see that we saw it. There was no whispering in the dressing room, there was no group that was unhappy not to have played their part. That is the kind of group I want to create. One that can be successful.”

‘Owners don’t like him’

From there on in, as one source close to the England manager tells The i Paper, Tuchel “fell in love” with the job.

Speaking to insiders who have worked with the impressive German, they tell a tale of a manager with intense passion, fire that can boil over at times.

Unlike his great friend Pep Guardiola and compatriot Jurgen Klopp, Tuchel often stays for a good time not a long time. There have been spectacular fallouts, most famously at Paris Saint-Germain, where the enigmatic young coach, with the second highest-ever win percentage of any PSG manager, was sacked in 2020 after clashing with the club’s hierarchy.

“He can take it too far sometimes,” one source says. “Owners don’t tend to like his combative nature, but put up with him given how successful he is everywhere he goes.

“You have to remember, his hunger comes from how it all started.”

The barman turned belligerent coach

When Tuchel’s mentor Ralf Rangnick picked up the phone to question what on earth his protege was doing working in a lively Stuttgart bar post retirement from playing, a career cut short by injury, he knew he had to act, offering the eager pupil a job with the city’s youth teams.

The rest is history, with Tuchel’s rise in the coaching world nothing short of meteoric. The England job was always on the radar of a longstanding Anglophile, but there were reservations among some, due to the breakdown in relationships at several of Tuchel’s previous clubs.

Manchester United thought long and hard about giving Tuchel the job to replace Erik ten Hag, a coach who had just won the Champions League with an English club, Chelsea, three years previously. Tuchel himself did not want the ir. He had bigger aspirations.

The 52-year-old is the antithesis of his predecessor Gareth Southgate. And that is exactly what England needed in the here and now. Southgate did a fantastic job revolutionising everything England did, from the grassroots up. Where the naysayers insist he fell down was in the heat of the battle, on the pitch.

Southgate was ever the diplomat. Captain Sensible. While Tuchel is not going to completely rock the boat with some madcap formation or anything, his combative nature, and insistence it is his way or the high way, can be the panacea to any tepid previous tournament approaches.

Tuchel learned this the hard way at PSG, where he had to deal with temperamental superstars at the height of the Parisiens’ “bling-bling” era. By allowing the likes of Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe dictate how the club operated, the German effectively ceded control.

How things unravelled is understood to be something Tuchel regrets. Vital lessons, however, were learned. What Tuchel saw that night in Belgrade was a group “brotherhood” – very much the mantra he is trying to force home now – beginning to form.

How he picked his squad

Many of his left-field squad selections for this summer’s showpiece were there in Eastern Europe, as Tuchel got the basis of the team ethos he wants, over the individual.

Leaving Cole Palmer, Phil Foden, and Trent Alexander-Arnold at home for a major tournament seemed unfathomable to some. But Tuchel’s meticulous selection, one he and his team deliberated over for months, is about the group dynamic.

Working with sports psychologist Richard Hampson, Tuchel has worked long and hard on communication within the unit, establishing relationships that can take England all the way this summer.

Jordan Henderson is effectively there to drive up standards off the pitch, and act purely as a mentor for younger players, Jude Bellingham being prime example, who need a hand on the shoulder from time to time. Ivan Toney knows he won’t be starting, and is fine with that.

When you love what you do as much as Tuchel does, you put every ounce of your soul into preparation. The Florida pre-tournament camp was selected for a reason, getting players acclimatised with the most humid state in the country, before a competitive ball was kicked.

The relaxed nature allowed for a smoother transition, before the real business begins. WAGs and families were allowed to join the team in Florida, but that is where they will stay, with England’s players a three-hour flight away in Kansas City.

A proven winner

Everything has been thought of, despite England effectively getting third pick of training options in Kansas, after Argentina and the Netherlands. A secluded hotel should keep the scandal, and chance of misdemeanors, to a minimum.

Without wanting to raise hopes before they are inevitably dashed once more, the stars are somewhat aligning. There is less pressure on the players given expectations remain pretty low compared to previous tournaments. A lack of a clear frontrunner to win the World Cup outright gives England as a good a chance as any.

Read more

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No metatarsal has been harmed in the months leading to a major tournament. Aside from Tino Livramento, who is expected to miss the tournament with a hamstring problem, Tuchel effectively has a fully fit group to choose from – something few coaches have had previously.

England also possess a proven winner at the helm. One not afraid to make tough decisions and do things completely his way. Tuchel possesses a group who understand his methods and the ones present in the United States are on board.

There’s just one thing left to do.

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