Thomas Tuchel was an all-or-nothing appointment as England manager. World Cup 2026 is the beginning, middle and end of his task.
While Tuchel and the FA would surely be open to a longer association in the glow of a successful World Cup next summer, bringing the former Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain manager into English footballs top job was a short-term decision.
Tuchel is a self-confessed anglophile when it comes to football but doesnt need to call attention to his own record as a successful manager at the highest levels of the game.
England are timing their run-up to the World Cup and ended qualifying in confident mood
England have a talented, committed, accomplished crop of players. They have good pedigree in the club game and experience of the latter stages of major international tournaments.
Gareth Southgate reached a World Cup semi-final and successive European Championship finals, and the production line of Premier League-quality players just keeps on rolling.
Tuchels brief is to take that group todays group and win today. England have tried other approaches.
Southgates record was the result of a specialised managerial style applied to the top-level players available to him, a combination of a long-term development plan and Southgates unifying principles, at least inside the dressing room.
The Tuchel selection was a simple one in its own strange way. The capable generation of players that developed into proven international players under Southgate have been handed, along with a few of their successors, to a manager whose interest in the distant future is modest at best.
Tuchel was brought in to win and given players who could realistically do it. Yet the expedited evolution of England on his watch wasnt without its teething problems.
Englands World Cup 2026 qualifiers before the end of the 2024-25 season were all won without conceding a goal. Theres no denying that.
But the performances in those early matches flowed like molasses and the lingering concern that England didnt have that little bit extra required to beat the kinds of opponents the Three Lions would meet late in summer tournaments persevered.
They lost a game, too. Englands first match at Nottingham Forests City Ground in decades saw them well beaten by Senegal in June. It did nothing to reassure England supporters that the team had another gear or two.
But Tuchel, who is ranked at no.26 in FourFourTwo's list of the best managers in the world right now, has timed his World Cup tilt to perfection.
Englands spotless qualification was confirmed with Sundays 2-0 win over Albania in Tirana and the history books will simply show their record of eight wins, no points dropped and no goals conceded. The real picture is more complex.
Belgrade was the watershed moment. Englands 5-0 away win over Serbia in September was a handbrake-off victory achieved without Jude Bellingham and John Stones.
Marc Guehi partnered Ezri Konsa at the back. Anthony Gordon, Morgan Rogers and Noni Madueke played off Harry Kane. Elliot Anderson starred in midfield. England, for the first time in years, felt not just good but different.
Tuchel harnessed that triumph in what was theoretically Englands toughest match of the group and put it to work in pursuit of positive momentum. Wales were beaten easily in a friendly. Latvia were thrashed, Serbia defeated again.
England made heavier going of their final qualifier in Tirana but are, in FourFourTwos opinion, in better shape than theyve been at any other point since Tuchel was hired.
The Three Lions emerged from qualifying with impetus in their favour, optimism in their corner and winning in their blood.
In a recent conversation with a former England player, we were reminded that actually winning a major tournament is made rather complicated by the presence of other teams who are also desperate to take the trophy home. There are no guarantees.
But with a successful manager, a high-quality squad with medals in their lockboxes, and a World Cup spot confirmed with matches to spare, all England can do is try to pitch their preparations with the best possible timing.
By completing their qualifying campaign in the ascendancy, Tuchels England have at least managed to get out of their own way.
