Lee Carsley believes Thomas Tuchel is taking over an England side with “all of the tools” to win the 2026 World Cup.
After Gareth Southgate called time on his eight-year reign having reached a second final in three tournaments, the FA chose the ex-Chelsea boss to try to take the last step.
When Tuchel begins his quest for World Cup glory in the new year, he will have been fully debriefed by outgoing interim boss Carsley, who secured Nations League promotion with five wins from his six games.
The temporary appointment returns to his job as England U21 manager confident he has handed over a team with the experience, quality and potential to go all the way in 2026.
Asked if England can win the World Cup, Carsley said: “I think we are in a good position to do that. I think we have the talent to do it.
“I have been lucky now to be at the last couple of World Cups and the timing of the players being in form, physically and mentally, at the right time, picking the right squad…
“We have got all of the tools. We just need to play them in the [right] order.”
Carsley hands over to Tuchel on the back of Thursday’s 3-0 win in Greece and Sunday’s 5-0 send-off against the Republic of Ireland, matches in which England’s autumn debutants increased to eight.
As he prepares to present an in-depth dossier to the new manager, the interim boss said: “Thomas’ pool of players has increased so we have left the squad in a fantastic position.”
Carsley is still unsure when the pair will meet but says it will be before Tuchel’s January 1 start date.
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Speaking after England’s 5-0 win against Republic of Ireland, Jay Bothroyd praised Lee Carsley for the impact he has had as interim manager
“Definitely I think the sooner, the better,” he said. “I think it’s important first, though, that we debrief properly rather than being a bit reactive just on results.
“It’s the whole experience. We will collate our thoughts along with the rest of the players in terms of handing over something he can read and look through that’s valuable, and then we’ll step back to support him.”
Carsley has not only sought to increase the options available to Tuchel but the attack-minded coach has tried to change England’s approach.
It is something the players have enjoyed, with Jude Bellingham thanking him for giving him his “smile back” in an England shirt and Jack Grealish praising him for “bringing back the enjoyment”.
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Rob Dorsett and Ron Walker reflect on England’s 5-0 win against Republic of Ireland and feel new manager Thomas Tuchel will have seen both the good and bad from his new side
“I want to attack,” Carsley said. “I think you might have seen me play and I was quite defensive and quite negative. I did not want to coach like that.
“I think we have such attacking talent in this group of players that I felt the best way is to attack, and we have shown that you control games.
“It is fair to say the challenges will be more difficult in the 18 months in terms of if we are going to win the World Cup. We have shown we can do it.
Conor Gallagher celebrates with Marc Guehi and Kyle Walker after scoring England’s third goal against Republic of Ireland
“I suppose at the start of this, we would say I have just done something that was expected in terms of getting qualified from this group, but we have to take a lot of positives from it.
“We have given the lads a lot of opportunities and the most pleasing is that they have shown everyone what they can do.”
Pickford backs Tuchel to take England ‘one step further’ in World Cup quest
Thomas Tuchel begins his reign with England on January 1
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford believes incoming boss Tuchel could be the man to help the country go “one step further” and win the World Cup.
Pickford was part of the England team which lost the last two European Championship finals and reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the World Cup.
The Everton goalkeeper believes Tuchel coming in with a short-term goal could help.
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Speaking at the unveiling of a statue and mural in his honour, England captain Harry Kane says he cannot wait to work with new head coach Thomas Tuchel and has no intention of stopping any time soon
“Yeah, you’ve got one goal and one opportunity,” he said. “We’ve been so close, we want to go that one step further.
“There’s definitely new energy and there’s going to be a lot of competition for places. But that’s what it’s about. You want the best players for England at the right moment and hopefully going forward next year we’ve got that squad ready to win.”
What NL results mean for England, Scotland ahead of World Cup Qualifying
The 2026 World Cup will be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico
Attention will soon be turning to the World Cup Qualifiers, starting next March.
Following England’s 5-0 win over Republic of Ireland, new Three Lions manager Tuchel has avoided a Nations League promotion play-off as his first assignment, meaning he will embark on a fresh Qualifying campaign for the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026.