Tuchel defies criticism over England exit decisions: ‘I have no regrets’ | 2026 World Cup

Thomas Tuchel has insisted that he is not willing to participate in the “blame game” to end the World Cup in England and promised to close the gap with the leading countries.

Even Donald Trump has joined in the criticism of Tuchel’s tactics during the semi-final defeat by Argentina, with the US president questioning why he made Harry Kane a “defensive player” as England struggled to hold on for a 1-0 lead. But before the third-place qualifying match against France in Miami on Saturday night, which Tuchel described as “a game that no one wants to play”, the England coach defiantly stood by his decisions and said that he and his players must learn from their experiences.

“I believe that the other three nations [in the semi-finals] they probably expect to win the title. This is not us,” said Tuchel. We are not there yet. There is still a gap that needs to be closed. This is what we will do from tomorrow. We will not stop. We will not stop hunting. We will not stop challenging. We have things to improve in football. And this is the context. So there is not much room for drama. If drama is needed, if the blame game needs to be played, OK, we can do that. But I have the right not to date.”

Asked if he regretted his decisions after 48 hours of reflection, Tuchel added: “I felt that we had to do something different for the team, and I made a decision, trusting my feelings, my understanding, my knowledge, trusting my competitiveness, and I made a decision to help the team and get a result. But decisions are made under pressure. I don’t regret the decision itself.”

Tuchel also rejected Trump’s comments he made earlier when he spoke to the media with the president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino. “They took the lead, and they took their best player and protected him,” Trump said. “We have to be a little bit offensive, right? But no, I wouldn’t call it that. What do I know about coaching? It was unusual.”

Tuchel first asked “are you using Donald Trump as your witness?” when asked about his comments. But he was adamant that Kane was just following instructions.

“Defend us in the deep zone. That’s what you do when you defend on the block. You defend in the zone,” he said. “We weren’t efficient enough. We couldn’t escape the deep block. That’s what teams build: cohesion and mentality translated into football terms. We defend like 10 and 11 people. As a team, the team spirit, the unity, the mentality that this team has built in the last six and a half weeks, it shouldn’t be doubted.”

England trained for the final time in Kansas City on Friday but their arrival in Miami – the site of their quarter-final win over Norway – was delayed by local thunderstorms. Jude Bellingham and Jordan Henderson were among the players pictured sampling the barbecue Thursday night. John Stones admitted it was difficult to process the pain of defeat.

“We are still facing a lot of suffering and pain,” he said. “The nature of this game is that we as players take things the way we are faced, that’s why we are always fighting for more. I think everyone has seen that. [we could win it]. That’s why exiting the semi-finals is very painful because we believed a lot and we didn’t get where we believed we should be.”