FIFA World Cup 2026 — Heat is an obstacle but England can go far, says Thomas Tuchel

Heat and humidity will be obstacles to overcome but England are confident in their abilities and can go far in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, manager Thomas Tuchel said on Monday.

Many of the players were scheduled to fly to Miami on Monday evening for a 10-day warm-weather acclimatization camp ahead of the tournament. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze have been given more time to recover after Saturday’s Champions League final defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest and will postpone their departures.

Crystal Palace’s Dean Henderson, who helped the London club win the Conference League final last week, is also expected to arrive late and miss a friendly against New Zealand in Tampa on Saturday.

The other 21 players, some of whom are on holiday in America and the Caribbean, will meet in West Palm Beach.

“When I reconnected with the matches and built our training sessions and meetings to reconnect the team in Florida with what we have already built, I saw a lot of quality. That immediately gave me complete belief and excitement that we can go a long way,” Tuchel said. Air sports television.

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Tuchel realized the heat would not be in England’s favor after a long and demanding club season.

«We are not used to this kind of heat, humidity and even altitude when we play in Mexico. There will be many challenges in this World Cup. The heat is one of them, but we are already prepared for it,» he said.

«We know the players’ individual response to the heat and we’ve put cooling strategies in place. We’ve had help from Team GB and specialists around the world to come up with solutions to help the players adapt. We know exactly how much time we want to expose them in pre-camp, the ideal amount of time you should be training in the sun, and not to do too much either,» he added.

The scorching heat was a major issue during the June-July 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, with medical experts and players’ unions raising concerns about heat stress, dehydration and slower recovery times.

Tuchel said England were not making excuses ahead of the tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico.

«It (the heat) is a factor, but it shouldn’t give the impression that we’re making excuses yet. It’s just not in our favor and it’s an obstacle we have to overcome,» he said.

Published on June 1, 2026