Tuchel: English success means no 2026 World Cup 'curse'

Thomas Tuchel has said tournament success for the Lionesses and England's Under-21s proves "there is no curse" for the men's side ahead of next summer's World Cup finals.

The Three Lions face Andorra on Saturday before travelling to Serbia on Tuesday in two qualifiers as they aim to book their spot in the 2026 showpiece to be held across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

England's women retained their European Championship crown in July with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Spain, a month after the country's U21 side also became back-to-back Euros winners with a 3-2 win against Germany.

The men have not won a major trophy since 1966 and were beaten in successive Euros finals under Tuchel's predecessor Gareth Southgate.

Asked if the victories for England's other teams heightened the pressure on him going into a World Cup year, Tuchel said on Friday: "No, not at all. If it is something then it is a good omen.

"I was so happy for [Lionesses boss] Sarina [Wiegman] and [Under-21s boss] Lee [Carsley] because they made it and they made an extraordinary effort and an extraordinary success with back-to-back victories.

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"It is possible [to win a trophy with England], there is no curse on English teams. So it is a good omen and we will do our very best to follow the example."

Tuchel, who confirmed captain Harry Kane will start against Andorra, also revealed that John Stones has returned to Manchester City after failing to recover from a muscular problem in time.

"Unfortunately, John Stones just left [the camp]. He came with minor muscle issues to the camp and didn't progress as we thought and hoped he would so he left the camp this morning because we will not take the risk with him, not against Andorra and unfortunately not against Serbia.

"Everyone else is available, we had 21 players yesterday in training and 21 players today in training and we just need to make sure everyone is available for tomorrow."