England have ‘all the tools’ to win 2026 World Cup, says departing Lee Carsley

After Gareth Southgate called time on his eight-year reign having reached a second final in three tournaments, the Football Association chose the ex-Chelsea boss to try and take the last step.

When Tuchel begins his quest for World Cup glory in the new year he will have been fully debriefed by outgoing interim boss Carsley, who secured Nations League promotion with five wins from his six games.

The temporary appointment returns to his job as England Under-21s manager confident he has handed over a team with the experience, quality and potential to go all the way in 2026.

Asked if England can win the World Cup, Carsley said: “I think we are in a good position to do that. I think we have the talent to do it.

“I have been lucky now to be at the last couple of World Cups and the timing of the players being in form, physically and mentally, at the right time, picking the right squad…

“We have got all of the tools. We just need to play them in the (right) order.”

Carsley hands over to Tuchel on the back of Thursday’s 3-0 win in Greece and Sunday’s 5-0 send-off against the Republic of Ireland, matches in which England’s autumn debutants increased to eight.

As he prepares to present an in-depth dossier to the new manager, the interim boss said: “Thomas’ pool of players has increased so we have left the squad in a fantastic position.”

Carsley is still unsure when the pair will meet but says it will be before Tuchel’s January 1 start date.

“Definitely I think the sooner the better,” he said. “I think it’s important first, though, that we debrief properly, the three camps rather than being a bit reactive just on results.

“It’s the whole experience. We will collate our thoughts, along with the rest of the players in terms of handing over something he can read and look through that’s valuable. And then we’ll step back to support him.”

Carsley has not only sought to increase the options available to Tuchel, but the attack-minded coach has tried to change England’s approach.

It is something the players have enjoyed, with Jude Bellingham thanking him for giving him his “smile back” in an England shirt and Jack Grealish praising him for “bringing back the enjoyment”.

“I want to attack,” Carsley said. “I think you might have seen me play and I was quite defensive and quite negative. I did not want to coach like that.

“I think we have such attacking talent in this group of players that I felt the best way is to attack and we have shown that you control games.

“It is fair to say the challenges will be more difficult in the 18 months in terms of if we are going to win the World Cup. We have shown we can do it.

“I suppose at the start of this, we would say I have just done something that was expected in terms of getting qualified from this group, but we have to take a lot of positives from it.

“We have given the lads a lot of opportunities and the most pleasing is that they have shown everyone what they can do.”

England certainly have strength in depth in attack to trouble the world’s best, with Carsley saying the challenge is effectively achieving balance using the best talent.

“I think there’s competition for places,” Carsley said. “I think the best chance of us winning is, if we can, find a place.

“You saw the Greece game at home (2-1 defeat), I tried that, so it is a challenge, it needs work.

“One thing you don’t get with the international camps is time, so we just have to find that balance.”

Asked if such options can be a headache, he continued: “A lot of the international coaches at that UEFA thing I went to, the debrief of the tournaments said that. They said, ‘You’ve got a lot of good players’, as if that’s a negative thing.

“If they’re all in form at exactly the same time then it’s a challenge, but players do come in and out of form and it’s putting them in the team when they’re flying and resting them when they’re not.”

As the senior team look towards the World Cup and new management, Carsley returns to his post with the England Under-21s as they seek to win another European crown next summer.

“I love coaching the under-21s,” he said. “It’s all about the players. I’m not one that’s chasing anything. I’m really content with the job I do and I’ll do my best.”