A portion of Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad took off from Birmingham airport on Monday morning to their pre-tournament warm-up camp in Florida.
Those that did not fly will later join up with the group in the ‘Sunshine State’, including Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke following Saturday’s Champions League final defeat to Paris St Germain.
Monday’s departure marks the start of a journey that England will hope finishes in glory on July 19 by ending 60 years of hurt and winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
Tuchel has vowed to add a second star to the shirt this summer, but this will be one of the toughest assignments yet, given the conditions and logistics involved in a tournament spanning three countries and four time zones.
Five days of acclimatisation to the stifling heat – temperatures at their Palm Beach training camp are expected to be north of 30C – will be followed by a pre-tournament friendly against New Zealand in Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Tuchel’s men then head to Orlando for a final warm-up game with Costa Rica on Tuesday before a few days of rest and family time ahead of moving to their tournament base in Kansas City.
England’s Group L opener is against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.
They will hope it ends in New Jersey over a month later as Tuchel aims to join Sir Alf Ramsey in delivering a World Cup as England manager.
He was hired as Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor in November 2024 with the brief of winning this tournament.
The German, who was told by his agent he could never manage England due to his nationality, outlined his plans when he first met his players in March 2025.
In a team meeting, shown during the first episode of a Football Association documentary, Tuchel showed his players a chart titled Mount Everest Summit and explained it with a rousing speech, saying: “I want to arrive here at the top, with the toughest group in the world.
“When we arrive on the plane and land, we will already know that this will be a great camp and this will be a team no one wants to play against.
“And they will feel it in the mixed zone, they will feel it in the tunnel, they will smell it.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub
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