Carsley says Three Lions have ‘all the tools’ to win 2026 World Cup under Tuchel

Lee Carsley believes Thomas Tuchel will take over an England side with “all the resources” to win the 2026 World Cup.

After Gareth Southgate bid farewell to his eight-year reign after reaching a second final in three tournaments, the FA picked the ex-Chelsea boss to try to make the final move.

When Tuchel begins his quest for World Cup glory in the new year, he will have been fully interrogated by outgoing interim boss Carsley, who secured promotion from the Nations League with five wins from his six games.

The temporary appointment returns to his job as England U21 manager, confident that he has handed over a team with the experience, quality and potential to go all the way in 2026.

Asked whether 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 that.

“I've been fortunate now to have been at the last few World Cups and to have the timing of the players being in shape physically and mentally, at the right time, and picking the right team…

“We have all the tools. We just have to play them in the game [right] order.”

Carsley hands over to Tuchel after Thursday's 3-0 win in Greece and Sunday's 5-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland, games 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's player pool has grown, 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.

“I definitely think the sooner the better,” he said. “But I think it's important first that we debrief properly, rather than being a bit reactive just to the results.

“It's the whole experience. We'll put our thoughts together with the rest of the players in terms of handing over something that he can read and look through and that's valuable, and then we'll step back and support him. “

Not only has Carsley tried to increase the options available to Tuchel, but the attack-minded coach has also tried to change England's approach.

It's something the players have enjoyed, with Jude Bellingham thanking him for putting his “smile” back in an England shirt and Jack Grealish praising him for “bringing the fun back”.

“I want to attack,” Carsley said. “I think you may have seen me play and I was quite defensive and quite negative. I didn't want to coach that way.”

“I think we have such attacking talent in this group of players that I thought the best way was to attack, and we showed that you control games.

“It's fair to say that the challenges over the next 18 months will be tougher when it comes to winning the World Cup. We have shown that we can do it.

I suppose at the beginning we would say I just did something that was expected in terms of qualifying in this group, but we have to take a lot of positives from it.

“We gave the boys a lot of opportunities and the best thing is that they showed everyone what they can do.”

Pickford backs Tuchel to take England 'one step further' in World Cup mission

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford believes new 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 that lost the last two European Championship finals and reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the World Cup.

The Everton goalkeeper believes the arrival of Tuchel with a short-term goal could help.

“Yes, you have one goal and one opportunity,” he said. “We have been so close, we want to go one step further.

“There's definitely a new energy and there will be a lot of competition for places. But that's what it's all about. You want the best players for England at the right time and hopefully next year we'll have that squad ready to win.” “

What NL results mean for England and Scotland in the run-up to World Cup qualification

Attention will soon turn to the World Cup qualifiers, which start in March next year.

Following England's 5-0 win over Ireland, new Three Lions manager Tuchel has avoided a Nations League promotion play-off as his first order of business, meaning he will embark on a new qualifying campaign for the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States. United States in 2026.