England manager Thomas Tuchel has revealed how captain Harry Kane delivered a rousing speech to his team-mates after Tuesday's emphatic 5-0 win over Latvia in World Cup qualifying. Kane scored twice in the win as the Three Lions booked their place at World Cup 2026 with two games to spare. Tuchel's side also have a perfect record in qualifying so far, winning all six games and are yet to concede a single goal.
England heading to the World Cup
England became the first European nation to book their spot at World Cup 2026 after beating Latvia in Riga. Tuchel has enjoyed a flawless start as England boss since taking over from Sir Gareth Southgate and will now be targeting glory in North America, Mexico, and Canada next summer. Captain Kane will likely be key to England's hopes of success after adding two more goals to his international collection on Tuesday. That's now 76 from 110 appearances from Kane for England, with his two goals also ensuring another slice of history for the captain as he's now scored more than once for the Three Lions for the 13th time in his career.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportKane's World Cup speech revealed
Kane has been leading by example in World Cup qualifying, scoring six goals in six games for England, but also had some motivational words after his team clinched their spot in next summer's tournament. Tuchel revealed how he spoke to his team-mates after the victory: “I need to enjoy this moment. I can feel it in the dressing-room. It is a very special moment. It’s not daily business that you qualify for a World Cup. We will then think about how this affects our next camp. Harry just gave a speech when he said that everyone will be ready to keep this thing going in November, that no-one will step back and take this thing for granted. They feel they’re building something. Maybe it will give us the chance to try some stuff and manage minutes, but I can assure we will stay competitive no matter how we organise these two (qualifying) matches."
England to experiment ahead of World Cup?
England still have two more games to play in Group K but qualification may allow Tuchel to experiment and rotate his squad. Big names including Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish all missed out on the latest call-up and Tuchel has previously warned his players he is willing to leave some of his most talented players at home as he aims to find the best mix. England's penultimate World Cup qualifier is due to take place on November 13th against Serbia at Wembley before the Three Lions wrap up their campaign away to Andorra three days later.
Kane looks ahead to World Cup 2026
Kane has already looked ahead to next summer's tournament and feels Tuchel is building an exciting team. He told the : "We’ve had a great start to the qualifying campaign. People just expect us to qualify but you still have to go out there and do it. The performance against Serbia (a 5-0 win in Belgrade last month) was at a really high level and that’s the standard we have to set for all the games going forward. Of course there’ll be tougher games on hopefully that run to winning the World Cup. We’re at the start of a mountain – there’s a long way to climb and there’ll be a lot of ups and downs along the way. What we’re building with the new coach (Thomas Tuchel) is that togetherness because once you get to that tournament, you’re going to be with each other for six, seven weeks so you have to be able to get along with each other.
"Tuchel has a great record in major tournaments. That’s what it comes down to. There’s a lot of great teams – us being one of them – but ultimately it’s about who can pull it together at the right time. Tournaments are about moments. We got to two finals through big moments and stepping up and obviously we fell short in the final moment but that gives us confidence that we can be there and just take that extra step."
