England Team News
England boss Thomas Tuchel, who, following the defeat against Argentina, is under huge pressure and scrutiny, could change his entire team to give some of his squad their first minutes of the tournament and give others another chance to impress going forward.
At the same time, the Three Lions boss and his team will want to end on a high, finish this World Cup as the third-best team, and give their fans who have travelled thousands of miles one last thing to shout about before heading home.
Jordan Henderson is out, and Reece James is a doubt. Declan Rice, who has struggled during the tournament with a sickness bug and neural pain in his hamstring and lower back, is not expected to start.
Tuchel could give Kobbie Mainoo and one of his other keepers their first starts. Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham could start as they hope to find the goals that could bring them the World Cup Golden Boot.
Thomas Tuchel Believes Nothing Could Have Helped Them Against Argentina
Three Lions head coach Thomas Tuchel believes that there is a weakness in England’s DNA. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s World Cup third place play-off he said: “In this moment my feeling was no structure in the world could have helped us,” Tuchel says, “because actually we were too passive and we were not physical enough, we didn’t stop runners arriving in our box and the deliveries were wrong too.
“I haven’t seen the data yet, but I think just right after the goal the momentum swings completely and ball possession drops dramatically. We couldn’t find any duels anymore, that’s why we dropped deeper and deeper, it was never the plan, but it happened.
“I think ball possession plays then a crucial role, it’s maybe not in our DNA like it is in our Spanish DNA or in our Argentinian-Brazilian DNA, to take the ball and control the game with the ball.”
Predicted Lineups for 2026 World Cup Third Place Play-off
France Predicted Lineup
Maignan
Gusto
Lacroix
Konate
T Hernandez
Zaire-Emery
Kante
Olise
Cherki
Doue
Mbappe
England Predicted Lineup
Henderson
Quansah
O’Reilly
Konsa
Burn
Mainoo
Anderson
Bellingham
Saka
Rashford
Kane
Score Prediction: France 2-2 England
Featured image courtesy of IMAGO / Bihlmayerfotografie
