England head coach Thomas Tuchel insisted they are not favourites for FIFA World Cup. The Three Lions won their solitary World Cup title back in 1966 and they would aim to end their long wait.
Spain, France, Brazil, Portugal and defending champions Argentina are the favourites for the quadrennial event and when Tuchel was asked if England are among the favourites, he 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 previous coach Gareth Southgate’s tutelage, England reached the final of the last two European Championships, the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup and the quarterfinals in the previous edition of the World Cup in Qatar.
“[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.”
England will begin their World Cup campaign against Croatia on June 17.
