Thomas Tuchel's first game as England manager becomes clearer after Nations League success

Thomas Tuchel could be set to kick off ’s qualifying campaign in his first game.

The German has been . He will officially take the reins in January before overseeing his first game as boss in the March international break.

And while the ex- boss has long since known that he is set to take control, he has been slightly in the dark about what his first game will be. But that has now become clearer.

Tuchel’s predecessor has done the German a huge favour by making sure he avoids any Nations League games in the near future. England secured their promotion to League A on Sunday evening with their

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It means that the Three Lions have avoided a March playoff to decide their fate. That would leave the March break open to the start of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Teams in qualifying will kick off their fixtures in March. The draw for the section of qualifying will take place on Friday December 13, with England set to find out their opponents.

In another boost to Tuchel and the Three Lions, England are set to be placed into Pot 1 for the draw. If England are drawn into a group of five then it would see them kick off their qualifying campaign in Tuchel’s first match.

However, should they be placed in a group of just four, then he will be eased in with a pair of friendly games. Regardless, Tuchel has already pointed to his desire to lead England to glory at the 2026 World Cup.

Willl Thomas Tuchel be a success with England?

Speaking in his introductory press conference, he said: “We will need luck, we will need the momentum, we will need to be lucky, not to have injuries and so on, little decisions within the games, that is a given. But we feel confident to add something from our experience in club football that can maybe help

“But most important is… even if we speak out now very openly about what the target is, about the second star… we have to prove ourselves all the time. We are a national player every single day, I will be a national coach every single day and not only when a camp is.

“So we have to live up to these standards but I am very confident that everybody is used to that so this is what I demand from myself and then we need to show it in qualification and build an atmosphere with supporters and the country that extra special things can happen.”

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