England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on how much spirit there is already in camp: "When I have seen the 26 [players] reactions in the last three days, I think the spirit is there.

"It was amazing to see, I wish everyone could have seen what it means to the players, the joy, the emotion to get this phone call. Even from players who could think that he could be sure that he is playing, what it means to them, it would be nice to share it.

"That just shows me that we chose the right group, we have to be sure because we want a long, long time together and we will be together 24/7. No one can drive home and have an afternoon off and come back the next day. We will stay together. That is why we rely heavily on the group that built this spirit throughout the three camps. I think we have a big part of it and we will make sure in the first 10 days the players connect and they will have the opportunity to reconnect off the pitch and to make it a special summer for us."

England

Image source, Getty Images

England boss Thomas Tuchel on what needs to happen to win the World Cup: "The goal is to try to win it and not be shy about it, respect the game and the opponents and the amount and the obstacles that come with the tournament itself.

"We need a bit of luck, we need to have our selection right. We need to stay healthy, all the players need to stay healthy. Then, catch the momentum. Build the brotherhood, build the courage, play with hunger and take advantage of special moments hopefully.

"We need a bit of luck and we need crucial moments on our side, of course. Once we go, hopefully to knockout football, then it’s a game of margins and it will not be done without luck and it will not be done without nerves without nerves of steel. We [may] need to overcome overtime or penalty shootouts.

"Everything is in our hands, but I think it is good to just have the goal spoken out and we did this very early in the first camp. Then one minute later, we said ‘okay, this is very clear and what are trying to do. Let’s focus on what we can influence which is the next step, the 10 days in Florida."

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on his players: "Ithink we have these names, hopefully we have one name in the end of it that says he carried the team or he had the decisive moments.

"We have world class players within our ranks, we have big names but everyone is committed into buying the idea that as a team is ready to be selfless and we have proof of that.

"That is why I feel confident. It seems like the big names are around. If I look at our squad, I see big names who can have all the headlines if we can go all the way."

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on whether he will rotate his squad during the group stage: "Ideally, yes. But once we’re in the group stage, I will maybe adapt and change my mind or adapt to the way of rotating. The challenge is clear. It will be hot, it will be humid. We can have a game in huge altitude. It’s one match more than usual because of the amount of teams.

"Would it make sense to rotate? Yes. Does it also show to the players that we trust them? Yes. But then I think we have a significant amount of players who hope to start and it is mor ethan just 11, so I think we will be able to rotate on a bigh level and give minutes and spread the minutes.

"Hopefully, we can do this without losing the momentum, without losing the connections between the players because we haven’t played in certain formations since November because in the March camp, certain players were injured. It has to be a mix of everything I think.

"History shows it makes sense to rotate in the beginning of the tournament, but I also don’t want to lose the chance to build automatisms or connections on the pitch."

England

Image source, Getty Images

England boss Thomas Tuchel on selecting Noni Madueke: "You mentioned Jarrod [Bowen], he was just one of the players under the radar maybe, he was just excellent in every camp for us and then gets the phone call that he is not on the plane. Does Jarrod suffer a bit from the situation at his club. It is difficult for him.

"Does Noni and Bukayo profit from the situation at their club, they're playing finals, they won the Premier League title, they play in a Champions League final. It is a question of concurrence, without telling too much, the reaction of Jarrod was just outstanding and proved again what kind of maker, he didn't play so regularly but coming on and off can be a big advantage. I believe in his ability to change matches and to disrupt defensive organisations with his one on ones."

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on Djed Spence the reason for his inclusion: "First of all, he was excellent in every single match he played for us. He suffers from the third change of coach at his club. Since then, he doesn’t get a lot of minutes. Of course, he suffers from the situation. He is part of the situation as well at Tottenham.

"He brings somethings to the group that we don’t have in his profile. He loves defending. He is the fastest player in our squad and he loves to defend in one on ones. That is just the characteristic that I would say makes him stand out. He’s a full-back first and a bit of a special full-back for us as well. On top of that, he can play both sides.

"We had this discussion, to be very open to you, before the March camp, with Djed. We said ‘we’re a bit concerned at Tottenham what is going on, you don’t have the minutes, you don’t have the impact we want to see from you. If you come here in March, we want to see you prove yourself again’, which he honestly did. Both of our full-backs, Tino and Djed, were just excellent against Uruguay.

"That was basically the decision, I can trust him and he adds something to our group which makes him unique."

England

Image source, Getty Images

England boss Thomas Tuchel on whether John Stones is ready to play a big role: "Yes, otherwise I wouldn’t have picked him. He’s excited to come and I am excited to have him. I am a huge believer in John. I believe he is a world class player, an amazing character and a proven winner. He knows how to adapt to a winning culture. He knows how to adapt tactically on the field.

"He is still on the highest level when I see him play, when I see him move. We analysed a lot of his training data because I get your question, there is not a lot of proof in the last half of the season unfortunately. The good news is he was available. He was not out, he was available. The bad news was he wasn’t selected as much as we all hoped for.

"But I think we can advantage to our late start in the tournament in this case. We still have over four weeks until our first match. We will reconnect with our principles. We have the chance to let him play two friendly matches and then I hope and truly believe he will have a strong tournament for us."

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on the quality of his selection, especially Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham: "They are just two of the names who are potential starters in the same position. There is still variety in these positions, so they can also play together, that should not be a problem.

"If they compete for one position through the tournament, I think it is possible to compete as accomplices and you don't have to be enemies. In the example of Morgan Rogers and Jude Bellingham, they are friends anyway. We have a couple of others. Bukayo Saka, Noni who fight for the same place in the club. I strongly believe it is possible that you fight for your place and still push your friend, colleague, especially in international football to the best possible performance. We took a lot of care about that, this energy is right.

"They know their roles, I have no doubt that we chose the right players and I have no doubt that Jude and Morgan will get along very well and I have no doubt that they both will be decisive for us."

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on whether he feels he can end England's 60-year wait to win the World Cup: "I heard recently a quote from Rafa Nadal, who said ‘I’m not a winner, I am a competitor, I’m a challenger’. That is basically how I arrive in the US for this tournament. I arrive with hunger, I arrive with excitement and I arrive as a competitor and as a challenger. I think that is the role for us as a team.

"This is how I want the team to play, this is how I want the team to develop. This is why we picked that squad and this is why I’m so sure we picked the right squad. It is about building a brotherhood. It is about building excitement and a certain energy.

"Then I feel we can transmit this to our fans who are either in the stadium or back here in England pushing. Once we get this energy right, everything is possible. We said it very early, we will try to go all the way. We will try to win this tournament.

"Very, very quickly, it makes no sense to try to digest the whole cake at once. We will chunk it up. We will try to have the best possible pre-camp, we will try to have a little break in between and then go to Kansas and the locations and go into the tunnel to start the group phase."

England

Image source, Getty Images

England boss Thomas Tuchel on whether he will be bringing extra players to the squad: "I think Dean [Henderson] is not an issue, we have Jason Steele in camp. Wwe can start with three goalkeepers and we have four.

"We will take some young players out who will train with us and keep the squad in the size that we need, we have all the possibilities for the two friendly matches to take care about the minutes and the load off the players so this will be Alex Scott, Rio Ngumoha, Josh King and there will be one more player which we cannot name because it is not confirmed yet. I am happy that these guys are with us, especially Alex who was even on the list of 55 and had a disappointing phone call as well, that he didn't make the first cut but the reaction was outstanding - the commitment, the wish to be in pre-camp and to just be a step closer to the team showed me his character. I am delighted he is with us because he was a close call and gets a chance to take a step closer and to get a cap."

Once we've wrapped up the remainder of Thomas Tuchel's news conference, we'll be joined by BBC Sport chief football writer Phil McNulty for a Q&A at around 12:30.

He'll be answering all your questions with regard to Tuchel's confirmed 26-man squad.

If you want to beat the queue and get your questions in now, you can do so by clicking the 'Get Involved' button.

Ben Ramsdale
BBC Sport

So you're saying we've got a chance, Alan...

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on how he decided his leadership group: "We had a March camp and we had a June camp and it was pretty clear for us who should be in there. I see no value in sharing it with you to be honest, so I will keep it to myself.

"It’s a group of five or six players and there is always like a fluidity that is possible in the group, but they took ownership. They took care and they were massively influential.

"I was very, very happy with the way they acted and interacted and how they stepped up, so there is no need to change that."

England

Image source, Getty Images

England boss Thomas Tuchel on Harry Maguire's statement after finding out he did not make the England squad: "I was a bit surprised, but I respect his personality a lot, I respect his quality a lot. He has had an outstanding season, I can see the disappointment, I can see the reason behind the disappointment.

"Still I was a bit surprised because we had a private conversation and he had the chance to express his feelings which he did and this is fair enough because I can see all the reasons why he could be in the squad. But, the decision is that we stood firmly with our central defenders that carried us through September, October and November.

"Some of them are part of the leadership group that took ownership and set the standards high. It was a decision for these 26 players, even if it feels against individuals."

England

England boss Thomas Tuchel on fearing leaving world class talents at home: "No, I don’t fear because I am very confident in the group that we chose of which we arrive with. Very difficult decisions, painful conversations. Difficult for the players, difficult to explain to the players. What we’re trying to achieve as a team and we try to nominate a balanced squad. If everyone is selected, it was a given that from these 55 players, we have to leave some extraordinary talents, some extraordinary personalities at home.

"Either way, if we picked all those names, some other big five names would have been out and we would be talking about these names. It comes with the job. I like these kinds of decisions, even if it sometimes took weeks and sometimes, months to clarify the decisions. I think they bring clarity. At the end, they bring a certain edge that is necessary.

"I try to explain for the players the reason they could be in camp. Did they do anything wrong? No. Could they be in camp? Yes. 100% sure. But for some of them, it is just the amount of players in a certain position. We didn’t want to play the players out of position so much and we wanted to give them a clear role and it comes with difficult and maybe hard choices in the build up to the tournament."