Thomas Tuchel got his managerial England debut off to a winning start with the Three Lions cruising to a 2-0 victory over Albania at Wembley in their first World Cup 2026 qualifier. England debutant Myles Lewis-Skelly and Harry Kane were the goal scorers on the night and it was Kane’s 70th goal for his country — milestones for both Tuchel and Kane.
Of course, Kane and Tuchel had one season working with one another at Bayern Munich in what was an underwhelming season for the Rekordmeister, but still an impressive season in front of goal personally for Kane. Looking back, ahead of England’s 2-0 win over Albania, Kane was speaking about the Three Lions opening up a new chapter being led by Tuchel after a long tenure under Gareth Southgate, and the skipper admitted that Tuchel was a big part of the reason why he decided to leave Tottenham for Bayern last summer.
“Thomas Tuchel was a big reason why I went to Bayern Munich in the first place. I know how good of a coach he is. He brings a lot of energy, enthusiasm and passion when he speaks. I had a really good season with him last season. I’m excited to start this England chapter with him,” Kane explained in a press conference leading up to the qualifier vs. Albania (via @iMiaSanMia).
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Kane and Tuchel would have been quite familiar with one another from the latter’s time as Chelsea boss in the Premier League when Kane was still with Tottenham and the manager’s track record certainly did not paint a picture of someone who would fail to win the Bundesliga, Champions League, and succumb to an early exit from the DFB-Pokal.
Prior to taking the helm at Bayern, Tuchel had won the DFB-Pokal with Borussia Dortmund, two Ligue 1 titles, two French Supercups, one Coupe de France and one Coupe de La Ligue with Paris Saint-Germain, and most notably the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Supercup with Chelsea. Additionally, he did win the Bundesliga with Bayern in the 2022/23 season when he took over for Julian Nagelsmann, but that was largely aided by Dortmund’s blunders at the end of the season up until the last matchday of the season — think we all remember that Jamal Musiala late goal vs. FC Köln.
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