Jordan Pickford on England's Determination for World Cup Success

Jordan Pickford says England are ready to “go to war” for Thomas Tuchel. It is not a throwaway line. It is a marker, laid down on the eve of a World Cup last-32 tie that could define the new manager’s era before it has truly begun.

England have arrived at the knockout stages with purpose. A controlled 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey locked up top spot in Group L and eased them into the bracket, but the mood around this squad suggests simple progression is no longer enough. The drought since 1966 hangs over everything. Tuchel has been hired to rip that story up.

Pickford has lived more of this modern England journey than most. A fixture under Sir Gareth Southgate, he has carried the pressure of two European Championship finals and the expectation that this generation would be the one to finally deliver. Through it all, he has remained one of the team’s loudest believers.

So when he talks about what feels different this time, people listen.

“Belief, togetherness,” he told BBC Sport, before pausing on the key shift. “I think we have had that previously, but I think the manager’s got that belief in us.”

Tuchel’s impact, in Pickford’s telling, is not subtle. It is visceral.

“The meetings the manager has with us, it is like you are ready to go to war,” the Everton goalkeeper said. “He puts that belief in you. There is different meetings he has tactically, and it is like ‘yeah, it is go time’.”

Those sessions, those details, are shaping a very clear internal message. One squad. One goal. No passengers.

“We all want the same goal, we all want that end goal and this squad he has picked, we are all in good spirits and all in good moments in our career,” Pickford added. It sounds like a cliché until you remember how often England tournaments have been clouded by club cliques, fitness doubts and noise from the outside. This feels cleaner. Sharper.

Pickford himself has not stood still either. The man who has already delivered in some of England’s most pressurised moments is still searching for better.

He continues to work with a psychologist, not as a quick fix but as a long-term edge. Speaking to ITV Sport, he framed it as an ongoing project rather than a box ticked.

“(It is) a lot of growth I am working on and being the best version of myself,” he said. “We have got targets, who I am working with, and it is about being the best version of me and where that can take me. We know the journey it can take me on, and believing in that, and being me.”

That kind of language hints at a goalkeeper who understands his role is as much mental as technical. Penalties. Extra time. Momentum swings. The margins that decide tournaments often land in his six-yard box.

DR Congo now stand in the way of England and the last 16. They reached the knockouts as one of the best third-placed sides, their win over Uzbekistan on Saturday enough to push them through. On paper, England are favourites. On grass, they are facing a proud, physical, dangerous opponent with nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Pickford knows how quickly a tie like this can turn if complacency creeps in. He also knows his own reputation from the spot could loom large if the game drags beyond 90 minutes.

He is not planning on it.

“We want to win the game in 90 minutes, but we will be ready as a team, as a group, as England to do what it takes to get the victory,” he told ITV.

The message is clear: control what you can, prepare for what you cannot.

“If it goes to penalties, extra-time, we have got the ability, we have got the lads to come off the bench, our togetherness is a high level and that is what we are here to do.”

Tuchel’s England are trying to project something harder, more ruthless, without losing the cohesion that underpinned the Southgate years. Respect the opponent. Impose yourselves anyway.

“We are here to do the job,” Pickford said. “We know Congo is a tough nation, we know how many teams in Africa have qualified for the next round of games. They are a proud nation, and we have got to be ready for what they bring – but it is also about what we bring as a group, and we will be right after them.”

The rhetoric is fierce. The stakes are familiar. Now comes the part England have too often failed to master: turning bold words and fine margins into something that finally ends 60 years of waiting.