Thomas Tuchel made history in leading England to their 4-2 win over Croatia to open the 2026 World Cup.
He became the first ever foreign men’s England manager to win his major tournament debut.
The Three Lions laid down a marker against Croatia, particularly with their second-half display. England took control of the game, holding 55% possession while creating five big chances.
After the game, England players hailed Tuchel’s half-time team talk, in which he told them to “show the world who we can be”.
A manager’s ability to inspire his group and improve their performance from a motivation perspective is important. But Tuchel’s tactical approach will also be pivotal to England’s chances of going deep at the World Cup.
In this article, we’ll cover
Tuchel’s “new” buildup
England built from the back with a 4-2-2-2 from goal kicks. The centre-backs split either side of Jordan Pickford, while the full-backs pushed slightly on. This has become a hallmark of elite European sides in recent years.
Decan Rice and Elliot Anderson acted in the double pivot, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham operating as dual No.10s. Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke stayed advanced in the last line, ready to exploit the space behind Croatia’s wing-backs.
But this plan wasn’t just seen from restarts. England set up to build from the back using Pickford as a +1, looking to bait the press and play through.
With a four-on-three in the first phase, England were looking to bait Croatia out of their 5-2-3 block, with smart rotations from Rice, Anderson and Bellingham to clear space for Kane to drop.
But Reece James would also receive the ball, forcing Ivan Perisic to jump out from wing-back to apply pressure. This opened up space in the channel for Madueke to exploit.
While the plan was clear, Anthony Barry made his displeasure obvious during the half-time interview. He wasn’t happy with England going long and short at the wrong moments. They also weren’t playing through the gaps to accelerate their play.
England improved in these aspects after half-time. They avoided going long when they had options to play through, which allowed them to exploit the gaps as initially planned.
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Out-of-possession vulnerabilities?
Now, with a 4-2 win it’s easy to talk about the good attacking display. After all, England created seven big chances and score their four goals from 3.20 Expected Goals.
However, Croatia still managed to score two goals from their 10 shots with 0.70 xG. And both of their goals highlighted a potential weakness within England’s side out of possession.
It revolves around two of their most-important players.
Open space
Croatia’s first goal came from a turnover, with Anderson looking to play out in his own half. He lost the ball and attempted to counterpress quickly, to correct his initial error.
While this is absolutely one of Anderson’s biggest strengths, it could also be exploited as a weakness. Due to the advanced nature of England’s full-backs, opponents acn look to find the space behind Anderson’s jump.
Martin Baturina was able to do this for Croatia, finding the ball out wide before receiving it back and curling a beautiful effort into the top corner.
Kane’s role
Kane’s out-of-possession role is another issue. Not so much when England are sat in their 4-2-4 high block, but when they drop deeper.
The England campaign dropped into a deeper midfield zone just before half-time, looking to block the space. Instead, this collapsed England’s defensive shape, with the midfielders in the backline and a lack of pressure in the ball. England couldn’t get out quick enough and conceded a second just before the break.
England’s 4-2-4 high block worked quite well to deny Croatia. Bellingham was always looking to follow one of Croatia’s pivot players, while Kane attempted to block central access — while still applying pressure if Luka Vuskovic got the ball.
The wingers would then jump to apply pressure if the wide centre-backs got the ball, with Rice ready to jump to the free midfielder if Croatia found access to the pivot.
Anderson then did a good job of protecting the space between the two units, while also following Baturina if he made forward runs, allowing England to match up against Croatia’s front five.
Nico O’Reilly’s job was to jump from a full-back position to arrive and apply pressure to Josip Stanisic if he received the ball, starting in a half and half position to retain a +1 in the backline.
Set-piece importance
When he first took the England job, Tuchel mentioned that he wanted his side to reflect the Premier League. And is there anything that reflects the Premier League more this season than set-pieces?
Arsenal won the Premier League for the first time in 22 years, with set-pieces a big part of their success story, scoring 29 goals from set-pieces and only conceding eight.
England have the same set of set-piece takers that made Arsenal so elite in this regard, with Rice, Bukayo Saka and even Madueke often providing pinpoint deliveries.
While England don’t have Gabriel as a presence, Kane was able to score from a corner against Croatia. And with the likes of Ezri Konsa, John Stones, O’Reilly, Bellingham and Kane, the Three Lions will have enough threat of their own to make it a weapon.
Tactical dilemmas for upcoming fixtures?
Tuchel will have some decisions to make going forwards, whether that be tactical adjustments in regards to instruction, or personnel.
One big decision will be between Gordon and Marcus Rashford, with the latter coming from the bench to score the fourth goal and put the game to bed against Croatia.
A large part of that decision making could be compounded by the decisions made on the left in general, as O’Reilly and Rice for example often take up the pocket spaces at their best, leaving the wide man to provide the width.
Another decision will be in central defence, despite keeping a clean sheet in the second half against Croatia, England still conceded twice and Marc Guehi will be under consideration to strengthen the backline.
Either way, Tuchel will be looking to use his squad to its full extent, turning to players from the bench to provide injection of energy and intent, just as he did against Croatia which worked a treat.
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