World Cup winner Geoff Hurst doesn't believe Thomas Tuchel is the right man for England

Martin Macdonald

• 13 Oct 2025 05:01 CDT
• 4 min read

News

World Cup winner Geoff Hurst doesn't think Thomas Tuchel is the man to take England to the next level.

England have played in just one World Cup final in their history and it came in 1966 when they defeated Germany 4-2, with Hurst scoring a magnificent hat-trick in the match.

As fate would have it, England now have a German in charge in the form of Tuchel.

However, Hurst believes that England, historically, have performed the best with an Englishman at the helm.

“Overall, you have to strongly argue the managers who have had the best results for our national side have been English, starting with Sir Alf Ramsey," he said at en event in Bristol this week.

"And I must admit I generally prefer to have, as many other countries do, a national manager who shares the same nationality as the players."

Hurst does concede that there isn't a plethora of English managers to choose from at the moment.

“But, unfortunately, we haven’t had that many to pick from who are operating at the highest level in the Prem, because there are so many foreign managers now," the 83-year-old continued.

"And not many English managers in the Premier League have been that successful over the years.

“It’s very simple when it comes to management - if Tuchel does well next summer and we do well in the World Cup, he will have done a fantastic job. But if we get knocked out in the first round, he’ll have been an absolute waste of time.”

At the moment, England have a perfect record in competitive games under Tuchel as they have won all five World Cup Qualifying fixtures so far as they top Group K.

Tuchel to leave out superstars?

England have one of the best squads in international football, however Tuchel's recent comments suggest that some of the country’s biggest stars may not be selected for the 2026 World Cup.

After England’s October fixtures against Wales and Latvia, Tuchel will only have a further two international breaks before he will be required to pick his squad for the World Cup.

He opted for continuity rather than change with his October squad selection and it has become apparent that the ex-Chelsea boss is focused on building a team spirit in the England camp ahead of next summer’s tournament.

As a result, players who have missed international camps through injury or poor form during his reign are increasingly unlikely to be selected for the World Cup, and Tuchel admitted as much during his press conference ahead of England’s friendly against Wales.

“For this moment, we stick with our choice and the radical statement is that we don’t collect the most talented players, we collect the guys who have the glue and cohesion to be the best team,” the England manager told reporters.

“I just watched a documentary of the New England Patriots and saw a quote that [said] ‘we don't collect the most talented players, we build a team’.

“I cannot agree more, so that's what we're trying to do. So, we are not collecting the most talented players, we are trying to build a team. Teams win trophies, no one else."

Jude Bellingham is notably absent from the current squad though he is still to reach full match sharpness after undergoing shoulder surgery.

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