World Cup: England have ‘not peaked yet’, says Tuchel before semifinal

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkEngland manager Thomas Tuchel is bidding to lead the Three Lions into the World Cup final for the first time in six decades [Paul Childs/Reuters]By Al Jazeera Staff and AFPPublished On 15 Jul 202615 Jul 2026Manager Thomas Tuchel said he did not feel burdened by the weight of history as he bids to lead England to a first World Cup final in 60 years by beating Argentina on Wednesday.The Three Lions have been led at the 2026 tournament by Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane, who have each scored six goals.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Spain deliver masterclass to beat France 2-0 and reach World Cup finallist 2 of 3‘We kept finding ourselves outnumbered’: Mbappe rues World Cup semi losslist 3 of 3‘Don’t mind how we got here’: Argentina happy to be in World Cup semifinalend of listRemarkably, Wednesday’s semifinal will be the first time Lionel Messi faces England, at the grand old age of 39, despite the historic significance of the fixture.Former Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich boss Tuchel said he did not feel extra pressure as he spoke to reporters in Atlanta on Tuesday.“I don’t feel a burden. We feel the tension and will be nervous, but that is normal,” Tuchel said.“What I like is that I feel the players are really competitive, hungry and excited to play this match.“The two shirts are just iconic. There are historic matches, iconic moments, and everyone recognises the shirts and players straight away.”England have not won a major trophy since their 1966 World Cup triumph on home soil.England’s striker #09 Harry Kane, centre, takes part in a training session on the eve of the World Cup semifinal against Argentina, at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City [Juan Mabromata/AFP]England and Argentina have previously clashed five times at World Cups, most notably the 1986 quarterfinal when Diego Maradona scored his infamous “Hand of God” goal in a 2-1 win.Twelve years later, Argentina won on penalties after David Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone.“I think the players of both countries are very aware of what it means to them – if a fixture provides so many iconic moments, then you cannot say it is just another football match, but as a coach we do exactly that, focus on what we can influence.”The German said he would not use the rivalry between the two teams as “fuel” to fire his men.“We know why we are here, we know what we want, we were never shy of expecting that from ourselves, and of saying it or of dreaming it,” he added.“We are in the semifinals, and we arrive very hungry.”The England boss said his entire squad trained on the eve of the game and that Declan Rice was fit to play after recovering from illness. Jarell Quansah remains suspended, following his red card in England’s last 16 win over Mexico.Diego Maradona of Argentina handles the ball past Peter Shilton of England to score the opening goal of the World Cup quarterfinal at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, Mexico. Argentina won 2-1 [Bongarts/Getty Images]‘Big obstacle’Tuchel explained that he had “no words” to describe magical Messi, who has scored eight goals so far and is second behind Kylian Mbappe in the Golden Boot race.“You can see the cohesion, you can see that they are experienced in tournament football,” Tuchel said.“They have the same core group of players who have been together a long time, and they have a very experienced and very, very good head coach, he added, referring to Lionel Scaloni.“We know how big the obstacle is, but we are ready for it.”England’s Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane have scored 12 of the team’s 13 goals en route to the semifinals [Paul Childs/Reuters] Argentina have laboured to reach the semifinals, although England’s path through the knockout rounds has not been smooth either, with tough matches against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mexico and Norway.“It is just my first World Cup as a coach, and it is very rare that you fly through a tournament and everything falls into place from match to match,” Tuchel said.“We will prepare for the best version of Argentina – we expect and demand the best of ourselves.“We have not peaked yet, but the match will bring the best out of us, and we are excited.”Should England beat Argentina, they will face Spain in Sunday’s final after La Roja defeated two-time world champions France with a controlled display in the first semifinal.