How England can win the World Cup as Thomas Tuchel sent instruction for Croatia fixture

Former England goalkeeper David James has exclusively told Sports Mole the gameplan that Thomas Tuchel must execute if the Three Lions are to win the 2026 World Cup.

The 1966 champions begin their latest bid for global stardom against Croatia in Wednesday's Group L opener, which they are favoured to win despite a couple of injury concerns in the camp.

Newcastle United right-back Tino Livramento was forced to withdraw from the squad on Tuesday due to a muscle injury, and Chelsea's Trevoh Chalobah was called up to replace the stricken defender.

Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka has supposedly been struggling for fitness, although the Arsenal man has stressed that he is fit and raring to go for Wednesday's showdown in Arlington.

However, Tuchel's defence has made more headlines for the right reasons since the former Chelsea boss took charge, as England did not concede a single goal in World Cup Qualifying and have also kept back-to-back clean sheets in friendly wins over New Zealand and Costa Rica.

David James details how England can win 2026 World Cup

James was no stranger to a clean sheet, registering the second-most in Premier League history (169) behind Petr Cech (202), and also recording 21 shut-outs during his England career.

Now, the 55-year-old has detailed what England need to do to get over the line in North America, saying: "What I like about this England squad is the balance. I know it sounds obvious in one sense, but everyone's going to have to play their part.

"What we've seen already in the World Cup is some heavy scorelines, so there are going to be times where the defence are obviously going to need to be at their best.

"As much as I love clean sheets, I don't think it's about keeping clean sheets, ironically. I just think it's about the big moments and the defence needing to be solid, Harry needing to score, but I think that load will be shared as well. It is literally a team performance rather than looking at any individual areas.

"In this, the best defence, i.e. the one that keeps the most clean sheets, isn't necessarily the team that is going to win it. There will be moments, but I just think it is on the basis that they hold strong enough to allow the likes of Harry Kane, Ollie Watkins or Bukayo Saka, whoever it is, to score goals."

England defence could have work cut out against Croatia

Tuchel's England defence are not impenetrable, as Uruguay, Japan and Senegal have all proved, and the Three Lions' backline may have their work cut out to keep Croatia at bay this week.

Despite now being 37 years old, Ivan Perisic amassed 26 goals and assists for PSV Eindhoven last year, while Andrej Kramaric registered a combined 23 involvements for Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.

The latter is reportedly set to miss out on a spot in the starting XI, but Zlatko Dalic's striker pick - Petar Musa - has 12 goals in 13 MLS matches for Dallas this season.

Freiburg striker Igor Matanovic also managed a respectable 11 Bundesliga strikes for Freiburg, and Martin Baturina amassed nine Serie A goal involvements from Como.

David James was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of Grosvenor Sport, who offer the latest World Cup Odds.