2026 World Cup: Players need ‘social skills’ to make England squad — Tuchel

England manager, Thomas Tuchel, says players will need the right “social skills” and personality to make his World Cup squad.

Tuchel only has two friendlies in March, against Uruguay and Japan, before naming his squad for the finals, where England will face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in the group stages.

The former Chelsea manager has not been afraid to leave out big names such as Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden since replacing Gareth Southgate – and recalled experienced Brentford midfielder Jordan Henderson.

Tuchel says he needs the right balance in his squad – and not necessarily just the best players.

“When I speak to players who have been in World Cups, it has always made the difference when the connection was right, when the communication was right,” he said.

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“When the players had the feeling that the right group is in camp, that they knew their role, why they are in camp, what is expected of them, and they had the feeling that the tournament could even go on for another four weeks and they would be happy to be together, then they were successful.

“It will be very important that we don’t select just for talent, but also for what we need from a player.

“What the social skills are of a player, is he a good team-mate? Can he support if his role is maybe the supporting role? So, this is where the focus is.”

England have reached the past two Euros finals and were World Cup semi-finalists under Southgate in 2018.

They face Croatia in Arlington, Texas on 17 June, at the start of what could potentially be a long tournament.

“We will have a lot of players out there who hopefully play until May for international titles, they will play for national titles and we will demand – the World Cup will demand a lot out of them,” Tuchel said.

“Then we will be hopefully six to eight weeks together if we make it until the very end.

“It will demand a lot of our social skills, how we are together as a group and we need to get the nomination right.

“We need to find the right balance in the team and take it as an opportunity and take it as a dream coming true to be part in a World Cup and to play, hopefully, a major role is nothing else than a dream.”

(BBC)