Michael Owen has opened up about England boss Thomas Tuchel ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He expressed his surprise at the German getting a contract extension before the upcoming tournament.
England appointed Tuchel as their head coach in January 2025. He helped them put in a dominant performance in the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. They won all eight of their games without conceding a single goal. In his 14 games so far, the German has overseen 11 wins, one draw, and two defeats.
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The Three Lions also confirmed in February that Tuchel has signed a new deal, which is valid until the UEFA Euro 2028. Michael Owen recently expressed his surprise at this, telling GOAL:
“I must admit, I was surprised. I like Thomas Tuchel, I think he’s a very good manager. You probably know my feelings on the England manager’s job – I think he should be an English person, full stop. But, I was surprised that he got an extension.”
“I think it’s nice to show commitment before a big tournament, but we haven’t even had a tournament with him yet. He’s done nothing so far that would suggest, ‘oh my word, this is fantastic’,” he added.
Owen appeared to downplay England‘s qualification campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and explained:
“Everybody qualifies. We could close our eyes and qualify through these waste of time qualifying groups. We win every single game and never even concede a goal. It’s just a pointless exercise, really. It’s not like he’s done anything above and beyond what we’ve expected so far. So to reward him already, it was a bit of a surprise.”
Owen, meanwhile, scored 40 goals and provided 12 assists in 89 caps for the Three Lions.
England commence their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign against Croatia
The Three Lions have failed to win a major trophy since 1966. They reached the finals of the UEFA Euros in the last two campaigns but lost to Italy in 2021 and Spain in 2025. They also reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup in 2022 in Qatar but lost to France.
England are now hoping that Thomas Tuchel could help them end the trophy drought. They have scored 31 goals and conceded just five in 14 games under him. They beat New Zealand 1-0 and Costa Rica 3-0 in their recent friendlies.
They will now commence their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign on June 17 when they face Croatia. They will then face Ghana on June 23 and Panama on June 27.
Edited by Aditya Singh
