England begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia tomorrow, and Thomas Tuchel walks into the tournament carrying the kind of expectation that usually follows a manager, not an opener. Appointed at the end of 2024, he was hired to end England’s 60-year wait for a major international men’s trophy, and the first match only sharpens the question of whether this squad can back that brief.
That is why people are already asking when is the World Cup final: the answer is still far off, but England’s route to it is being debated now. One writer expects them to get to the final week of the tournament, while another sees them winning Group L and still reaching the quarter-finals. The timing matters because England’s opening game arrives before any of that can be proved, and the margin for error is already part of the conversation.
There is enough belief in the group to explain the optimism. One writer says England have a perfect record in qualifying, and others point to Declan Rice and Harry Kane as two of the best players in the world over the last few years. Kane and Rice remain the core of the side, the players around whom the rest of the tournament will be judged, and there is a sense that if England are going to go deep, they will need both of them at their best from the start.
But the same assessments that lift England also expose the worry underneath them. Some writers believe Tuchel can take them through Mexico in Mexico City and Brazil in Miami, yet another says they could go out to Argentina or Portugal in the Atlanta semi-final. That split is the story of the squad in miniature: enough quality to look like contenders, but enough doubt about creativity to make the route feel fragile. One writer says England have been left without Trent Alexander-Arnold, Adam Wharton, Phil Foden or Cole Palmer, while another argues that Tuchel has picked a squad that looks more geared toward a physical style and set pieces.
That is the tension England now carry into the tournament. They used to treat quarter-finals as the traditional par at a World Cup, but this group is being asked to do more with less inventiveness and to do it under a coach whose job description is already bigger than the first match. Croatia is only the start. What Tuchel gets from that game will not settle the question of when the World Cup final arrives, but it will show whether England have enough ideas to still matter when it does.
