THOMAS TUCHEL could rip up his World Cup plans because England will be late starters next summer.
The Three Lions will be one of the last remaining teams to begin their campaign at next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico — and this means Tuchel’s stars could get some bonus days off at the end of the season.
England’s first clash against Croatia in Dallas is on June 17 with a 9pm kick-off, six days after the World Cup curtain-raiser between co-hosts Mexico and South Africa.
Tuchel’s second game is against Ghana on June 23 in Boston (9pm) and the final group match will be against Panama four days later in New Jersey at 10pm.
Initially, Tuchel was planning to take his squad to a pre-season training camp in Florida at the end of May.
Any England players involved in the Champions League final in Budapest on May 30 would have followed later and linked up with the rest of the squad.
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But now, the Three Lions might not travel to the States until the first week of June, meaning some players, whose final Premier League game will be on May 24, will also be able to have a short holiday.
Boss Tuchel is taking his team for a training camp to Inter Miami’s HQ in Fort Lauderdale to adjust to the sweltering heat and humidity.
They will also play two friendlies at the stadium, with Inter Miami shareholder Sir David Beckham likely to attend.
The FA have yet to decide on their base for the World Cup but it is now unlikely to be their first choice of Kansas because of the location of their group games.
Tuchel said: “We had some preferred options and I think they’re out of the window now, but let’s see.
“We have some people who know everything about every hotel now in the US and what is possible for us.”
Speaking before Friday’s part of the draw, he added: “As soon as we know the schedule and the venues, we will get our head around it and make some decisions.”
Although England’s World Cup campaign will be a slow-burner, the intensity in terms of games will soon increase.
After the final group match, if they have finished top, there will be little time to prepare for a potential last-32 tie against a third-placed side in Atlanta on July 1, so this will be a fourth game in 15 days.
If England win that, they will potentially play Mexico in Mexico City on July 5, so that will be a fifth game in 19 days.
Asked about the draw, England skipper Harry Kane told Cleats Club: “Croatia will be a tough game for sure. We played them quite a lot in recent years and they have some fantastic players. It will be a tough battle.
“We had them in the Euro 2020 group stage and obviously we played them at the 2018 World Cup and a couple of times in the Nations League.
“They have always been even games and we’ve come out on top in a couple of them, so the preparation will start from now for each team and I’m looking forward to that challenge.
“There are some tough games. Most of the groups look fairly even. It just makes me excited. It’s still a while away yet but there are some big games.
“As the season goes on, the excitement will grow and grow. So overall, tough games but looking forward to the challenge.”
England will have two home friendlies to Japan and Uruguay in March, which are likely to be confirmed in the next few days.
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