World Cup 2026 is a must: Rio Ferdinand urges the new coach Thomas Tuchel to instill a ‘killer instinct’ in the England team.

Rio Ferdinand believes it could be World Cup glory or bust for new England manager Thomas Tuchel, but hopes the German can instil a “killer instinct” that was missing under predecessor Gareth Southgate.

England’s new era begins on Friday night at Wembley Stadium, where Tuchel will take charge of his first game against Albania in World Cup 2026 qualifying.

The German has already made headlines with his first squad selection, recalling Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford while handing maiden call-ups to Carabao Cup hero Dan Burn and Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly.

Tuchel officially took over on January 1, filling the void left by Southgate, who stepped down after England’s Euro 2024 final defeat to Spain in July. Southgate led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, as well as a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final, but still faced criticism for his conservative approach in knockout games.

Ferdinand hopes Tuchel can build on the positives of Southgate’s tenure while unleashing the attacking talent at his disposal. Asked what changes he wants to see under Tuchel, TNT Sports expert Ferdinand said: “In the knockout phases of a tournament, I think being a bit more aggressive – more aggressive with the ball, more direct, look to have possession and take control of games against the bigger and better opponents.”

He added, “We were capable of doing that against minnows and lesser teams, but when we came up against the bigger teams we lacked that killer instinct to finish a team off. I think if he can instil that within this team, that belief in the big critical moments, it’s the missing ingredient that we’ve had with England teams in the past couple of tournaments.”

England begin their World Cup qualification campaign still chasing a first major trophy since 1966. Expectations are arguably at their highest, given Southgate’s record and the debate surrounding a foreign manager at the helm.

The Three Lions are joined in qualification Group K by Albania, Andorra, Latvia and Serbia, with only the winners guaranteed a spot at the 2026 tournament in Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Questioned whether it was World Cup glory or bust for Tuchel, Ferdinand said: “I would say so. When you look at what Gareth Southgate did, he’s the most successful England manager bar Sir Alf Ramsey. He took us to new heights, but that wasn’t enough and wasn’t deemed enough by The FA.”

He continued, “One thing I would say that Thomas Tuchel has that’s different to Gareth Southgate is he has a CV that says he’s won trophies. He won the Champions League with Chelsea when no one expected it. He knows that taste of winning and how to prepare a team for a one-off game. If he can get us to that situation, the players can hopefully feed off that experience he has in those moments.”

Despite his optimism, Ferdinand stopped short of declaring England outright favourites for the 2026 tournament. “I’m not going to go that far, but you would put them as one of the teams who would be capable of winning it definitely,” he said. “But I wouldn’t say we’re the outright favourites. We haven’t earned the right to be called that yet.”

He added, “We’ve got a nucleus of players I think that are as talented as anything about. Do we have a squad that is talented as anything about? Maybe not, but our first XI I think will be able to match up with most. It’s an exciting time to be an England manager. Many people would love to be in Thomas Tuchel’s shoes because those players are a hugely talented lot for their clubs, producing some fantastic moments. Can they reproduce that consistently for England?”