The FIFA World Cup 2026 is all set to kick off on June 12. A whopping number of 48 teams will be participating, as the sides will aim to get their hands on the prestigious title. With the tournament right around the corner, the teams are taking on each other in pre-World Cup friendlies.ย
The latest clash saw England taking on New Zealand. Despite England possessing much more quality than New Zealand, the side only managed to register a 1-0 victory as Harry Kane continues his red-hot form to score the only goal of the game.ย
After the win, England head coach Thomas Tuchel came forward and slammed his players for the performance that they put in. He opined that the sideโs first-half performance was not up to par and they improved heavily in the second.ย
โIโm not super-happy about it. I like the second half more than the first half. We played more from our positions and thatโs why we played with more speed and off the ball we played with a bit more bite. The first half we were out of positions and it was a bit too much freestyle,โ Tuchel said via GOAL.ย
“That slowed our game down and made it difficult for the counterpress because we were not in the positions that we wanted to be when we started attacking. Thatโs basically the story of the match,โ he added.
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England to kick off World Cup against Croatia
Speaking of England, the side has a relatively tougher group than most in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026. They are drawn in Group L with the likes of Croatia, Ghana, and Panama. They will be taking on Croatia to kick off their World Cup campaign.ย
The two sides will meet at the AT&T Stadium for the clash, and both sides will hope to put in a good performance. England has been performing well in World Cups, reaching the knockouts consistently, but always misses out by the barest of margins. The side will hope that the 2026 edition will be different for them.ย
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