Thomas Tuchel has confirmed England will follow Sir Gareth Southgate’s penalty shootout blueprint at the World Cup – a plan born from the meticulous preparation that turned the nation’s previous lottery into a near-certainty. The admission comes ahead of Wednesday’s knockout tie against DR Congo in Atlanta, a match that could go the distance.
“The FA has a programme that has been in place for years and we follow the programme,” Tuchel said. “We are prepared. We have a process, the players have a process.”
“Tuchel confirms England will use Southgate's penalty shootout plan for the World Cup knockout match against DR Congo.”
The German’s own education in shootouts came from a painful failure. In 2016, he admitted he “forgot” to prepare for penalties when his Borussia Dortmund side faced Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal final. Bayern won 4-3 on penalties after 0-0, with Tuchel scrambling to select his takers in the short window after extra time. “A very painful experience and a big, big scar on me,” he said. “It will never happen again.”
That scar led him to embrace Southgate’s philosophy – a system where penalties are not seen as a lottery, and where clarity and repetition build muscle memory. Southgate decided takers well in advance, publicly took full accountability to shield his players, and assigned each penalty taker a “buddy” to greet them at the halfway line after the long walk back. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also carried shootout notes from detailed research of opponents’ likely approaches. Under Southgate, England won three of four tournament shootouts – a dramatic turnaround from one win in seven before his 2016 appointment.
But Tuchel cautioned that training cannot fully replicate the moment. “I heard Thierry Henry say he can’t remember the walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot in his first penalty shootout for France – you cannot train that,” he said. Still, he confirmed he already knows the order of his takers should the match go to penalties.
England’s preparations have been complicated by injury: right-backs Quansah and James are ruled out of the DR Congo game, though Declan Rice is pushing for a return. The match kicks off at 5pm BST, live on BBC One and iPlayer, as Tuchel’s side bid to keep their World Cup dream alive.