Tuchel confident England can avoid DR Congo upset

Thomas Tuchel said England’s past setbacks can help them avoid an upset by DR Congo as they begin their World Cup round-of-32 campaign on Wednesday. Speaking with confidence that England are among the favourites, Tuchel linked the team’s mindset to past defeats, including the shock loss to Iceland a decade ago that set a similar expectation level. He pointed to survivors from the Euro 2016 squad, naming Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, John Stones and Jordan Henderson, and argued that players who have experienced major losses are rare to find without such scars. Tuchel also revealed how his own penalty-shootout pain sharpened preparation: in 2016, while coaching Borussia Dortmund in a final against Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich, he admitted he forgot to prepare for penalties, leading to a defeat. Since then, he said he has worked on a dedicated penalty programme at the highest level with a process to identify the best shooters. The match is at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with England expected to manage knockout pressure.