PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Thomas Tuchel has said England cannot be considered among the favourites to win the World Cup but insisted his players “dare to dream” of lifting the game’s biggest prize.
The tournament kicks off on Thursday with the Three Lions aiming to end a 60-year wait to win the competition.
Spain, France, Brazil, Portugal and defending champions Argentina are among the countries widely fancied to do well and when asked whether England were among the favourites at a news conference on Tuesday, Tuchel said: “How many favourites are there? No, we’re not the top favourites. We can’t be because we haven’t won it for so many years.
“There are proven winners in the tournament with more success. These are the favourites. We compete for the trophy, we dream big. We know what it takes if we dream big. It comes with responsibility. The responsibility is on the effort and this is where the focus is.
“We see ourselves as competitors, as challengers. We want to go all the way but I don’t think we are the heavy favourites.”
Under Tuchel’s predecessor Gareth Southgate, England reached the final of the last two European Championships, the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and the quarterfinals in Qatar four years ago.
“[Those results] are absolutely relevant,” continued Tuchel. “If you go to finals in the Euros, semifinals, quarterfinals in the World Cup, then you are there and can win it. It just takes a little bit of luck or whatever. I strongly believe that we are there but I also believe we are not the favourites because of history.
“Maybe it is the wrong comparison, if you go down to Wimbledon and you haven’t won it, or 60 years ago you won it, you are maybe not the favourite.
“But you can win it, of course. We want to win it. But we know what it takes. It takes a calm mindset, and focus on our steps.
“If we want to reach the top of the mountain, we need to start the journey step by step and go base camp by base camp otherwise we will get distracted.
“I have belief, we all have belief, we all have a dream but it comes with responsibility, hard work, commitment, discipline and sometimes comes with disappointment, setbacks. This is all included but we dare to dream and that is important.”
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Confirmation that Somali referee Omar Artan will not officiate at the World Cup after being denied entry to the U.S. by border officials in Miami has brought wider political concerns surrounding the tournament back to the fore.
Asked whether he could separate the football from the politics, Tuchel said: “Yes and I am very grateful for the Football Association that they let me separate it and be the head coach, talk about football and just talk about football.
“Otherwise we have no chance to go all the way. Because we need to be focused. The tournament is hard enough if we focus on football. If we get distracted and I also give too many opinions without having the full knowledge about the situation, it does in general not help.”
