Soccer-England have put World Cup disappointment behind them, says Tuchel


Soccer Football - Nations League - England Press Conference - Tottenham Hotspur Training Ground, London, Britain - October 5, 2026 England manager Thomas Tuchel during the press conference John Walton/Pool via REUTERS

Oct 7 (Reuters) - England have ⁠moved on from their World Cup semi-final disappointment and ⁠taken an important step forward with their performances in the ‌Nations League, manager Thomas Tuchel said.

After suffering a 3-2 defeat by world champions Spain in their Nations League opener, England responded with home and away wins ​over the Czech Republic and a 7-0 ⁠thrashing of Croatia, scoring 14 ⁠goals in their opening four matches.

Tuchel, who has continued to face ⁠questions ‌about England's 2-1 World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina, said the team had built on the progress made in ⁠the tournament in North America rather than starting ​from scratch as ‌they target success at Euro 2028 on home soil.

"I think ⁠it's necessary ​to move on," the 53-year-old told reporters after Tuesday's 3-0 win over the Czechs at Wembley.

"I can only repeat that we didn't go out ⁠in the group stage, sometimes it ​feels like that, but we didn't.

"There was criticism and scepticism around, but I said we don't have to start completely new because we ⁠can build on what we achieved together. We played some high-level competitive football in the World Cup.

"Now we move to the next step and it's always important to take the next step. The ​commitment and attitude of the players from ⁠the first day in camp have been at a very high ​level and I'm happy that we have ‌shown it in all four matches."

England ​resume their Nations League campaign against Croatia on November 12.

(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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