Jordan Pickford: England Ready to Go to War for Tuchel

Jordan Pickford says England are ready to “go to war” for Thomas Tuchel. The words land heavy, not as a throwaway line, but as a marker of where this squad believe they are heading as a last‑32 showdown with DR Congo looms.

Top of Group L after a controlled 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey, England now step into the knockouts with a familiar weight on their shoulders and a manager who has clearly struck a nerve inside the dressing room. The drought since 1966 hangs over every campaign. This one feels different to those who have lived the near-misses.

Pickford has been there for all of it. A veteran of back‑to‑back European Championship finals under Sir Gareth Southgate, he has carried the scars and the experience, while never backing away from the idea that England can finally land a major trophy. Asked by BBC Sport what separates this run from the previous ones, he didn’t reach for tactics or formations.

“Belief, togetherness,” he said. Then he paused on the key change: “I think we have had that previously, but I think the manager’s got that belief in us.”

Tuchel, still relatively new in the England dugout, has clearly made his impact in the meeting rooms as much as on the training pitch. Pickford described those sessions with a clarity that tells you they linger in the mind.

“The meetings the manager has with us, it is like you are ready to go to war. He puts that belief in you,” the Everton goalkeeper explained. “There is different meetings he has tactically, and it is like ‘yeah, it is go time’.”

This is not a squad drifting into the knockouts. It is one that sounds like it has been wound tight on purpose.

“We all want the same goal, we all want that end goal and this squad he has picked, we are all in good spirits and all in good moments in our career,” Pickford added. That last point matters. These are players at their physical peak, many coming off strong club seasons, now being asked to channel it all into four weeks.

For Pickford, the preparation runs deeper than drills and video clips. He has continued to work with a psychologist, a tool he leans on to sharpen his decision‑making when the margins shrink and the noise grows.

Speaking to ITV Sport, he opened up on that process. “(It is) a lot of growth I am working on and being the best version of myself. We have got targets, who I am working with, and it is about being the best version of me and where that can take me. We know the journey it can take me on, and believing in that, and being me.”

It is a glimpse into a goalkeeper who has long thrived on emotion, now channelling that energy with more control. England have seen the benefits before: penalty saves, big‑game performances, an ability to ride the chaos rather than drown in it.

They may need all of that against DR Congo.

The Congolese side came through as one of the best third‑placed teams, their win over Uzbekistan on Saturday enough to punch a ticket to the last 32. On paper, England arrive as favourites. In tournament football, paper counts for very little once the whistle goes.

Pickford knows his reputation from the spot could become decisive if the tie stretches beyond 90 minutes, but he made it clear that is not the plan.

“We want to win the game in 90 minutes,” he told ITV. “But we will be ready as a team, as a group, as England to do what it takes to get the victory.”

That line – “do what it takes” – echoes the war talk. It is about more than penalty routines and substitution patterns. It is about a group that expects to go deep and understands the grind that comes with it.

“If it goes to penalties, extra-time, we have got the ability, we have got the lads to come off the bench, our togetherness is a high level and that is what we are here to do,” Pickford said.

There is respect too, and no attempt to dress DR Congo up as a soft touch.

“We are here to do the job. We know Congo is a tough nation, we know how many teams in Africa have qualified for the next round of games. They are a proud nation, and we have got to be ready for what they bring – but it is also about what we bring as a group, and we will be right after them.”

That last sentence is pure tournament mentality: acknowledge the threat, then impose your own. England have talked like this before and fallen short. Under Tuchel, with Pickford again standing guard and vowing to go to war, they now have to prove the words belong to a different ending.