Jens Lehmann makes brutally honest World Cup prediction for Thomas Tuchel’s England

Jens Lehmann says he was ‘surprised’ by England’s decision to appoint Thomas Tuchel and does not expect his fellow countryman to steer the Three Lions to glory at next year’s World Cup.

Tuchel was officially named as England’s head coach last October after Gareth Southgate stepped down in the wake of the side’s Euro 2024 final defeat at the hands of Spain.

The 51-year-old, who had been out of a job since his departure at Bayern Munich, proved a controversial choice for some considering England’s long-standing rivalry with Germany in football.

But Tuchel got his reign off to a positive start with back-to-back wins over Albania and Latvia at Wembley this month, sending England top of Group K in qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

England resume their qualifying campaign in ten weeks’ time away to Andorra, where Tuchel will no doubt be desperate to keep his 100 per cent record intact.

Tuchel is renowned as a meticulous tactician having managed many of the most high-profile clubs in European football, including Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain and, most recently, Bayern.

But former Arsenal and Germany goalkeeper Lehmann is ‘not convinced’ and believes England’s long wait for a major trophy will extend beyond 60 years.

‘We [in Germany] were a bit surprised that the English would take a German to coach their team,’ Lehmann told host Mark Goldbridge on night one of Baller League held at London’s Copper Box Arena.

‘I don’t think they will become world champions with him. I don’t think, as well, that the Germans will become world champions.

‘I’m not convinced about this approach which teams, countries are taking right now but we will see.

‘If everybody is taking that route, so the competition may be up for some new coaching.’

Despite enjoying success under Arsene Wenger, Lehmann has reservations about those coaches like Tuchel who were not ‘world-class players’ before entering management.

‘If you look at the best coaches in the world, Pep Guardiola, for example, Jurgen Klopp, some others. In Germany now, Vincent Kompany is doing a really great job and Xabi Alonso,’ he added.

‘What do they have in common? They were world-class players so, for me, the coach, they do well, but to a certain level and then it’s over.

‘That’s why I’m not scared that England will become world champions.’

While Tuchel was understandably pleased to come through this month’s double-header with maximum points, he admitted there were times he felt ‘frustrated’ with his side’s failure to sense an opportunity.

After Monday’s 3-0 defeat of Latvia, the England head coach told reporters: ‘I was twice a bit frustrated because I felt the opportunity for a high ball, in a very high position around Harry [Kane], once in central midfield, and I felt like we didn’t take this opportunity to have a high ball and maybe catch them unorganised.

‘But this is normal. For short seconds you are frustrated and then you push the players again. That is normal.

‘We need this to learn from each other. For the first time I coach most of these players so I need to understand how they behave, what they like, how they behave under stress, what they do out of position, in position and out of possession and in possession so this is pretty normal overall and this is what I said to the team.

‘I’m very happy with the effort, the attitude and of course the results. We expect a win, everyone expects a win form us but you have to do it, you have to put in a lot of work.’

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