Thomas Tuchel has iterated that England “are clearly here to win” ahead of their 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier away to Serbia in Belgrade.
Tuchel’s Three Lions head into the top of UEFA Qualifying Group K clash with a five-point lead over hosts, Serbia, having cruised to a turgid but clinical 2-0 win over Andorra.
Questions however were asked over England’s desire to win after two lacklustre wins over Andorra and a defeat to Senegal in their last three matches, which prompted Tuchel to iterate that the Three Lions are in Belgrade looking for victory to extend their lead to eight points.
“We are clearly here to win. We are prepared to win and to try to win. This is why we are here. We want to put the performance and quality on the pitch that it’s enough to win.
“We can never guarantee and we will never be arrogant and disrespectful. The result is hard to control. We want to have a good performance and we need a top performance to reach our goal. And the target is clear: we want to win.”
Tuchel also warned that England will be ready for Serbia’s best team with players like Djorde Petrovic, Nikola Milenkovic, Kosta Nedeljkovic and Sasa Lukic familiar to many England players, as will be ex Fulham striker – Aleksandar Mitrovic.
“You always have to prepare for everything. We prepare for the best version of Serbia.
“First of all, we’re in a very supportive country and a very emotional country. They have amazing talents over the years in football and we will face individual quality, we will face emotions.
“We have our first away game together in a very emotional and traditional stadium, so I think the occasion, the opponent and the consolation will bring out the very best in us tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it.”
Tuchel also hinted that he won’t make too many changes to the line-up after Elliot Anderson impressed on debut with his ‘Man of the Match’ performance.
“In terms of performance, I have to say not too many – maybe slight adjustments because we had an excellent camp and everyone deserves to play and everyone deserves some minutes.
“The players are not yet in a rhythm where it’s normal also to play 90 minutes every three days, so we take this into account.
“We do last decisions for changes and for the line-up tonight and maybe tomorrow morning. Everyone is available, so it will be narrow decisions but that’s a good sign.”