Thomas Tuchel responded to X-rated chants from traveling England supporters as the Three Lions qualified for the 2026 World Cup. They defeated Latvia 5-0 in Riga, sealing their place in next summer’s biggest tournament in soccer. Anthony Gordon opened the scoring, followed by an own goal from Maximus Tonisev and a brilliant goal from Eberechi Eze in the second half. But Tuchel was the target of sarcastic chants from away fans during Tuesday night’s match in the Latvian capital.
After last week’s win against Wales, Tuchel revealed his dissatisfaction with the atmosphere at Wembley, claiming the stadium was “silent”. He fumed: “There was no energy coming back from the stands. We gave everything to win. What more can we do? Three goals in the first 20 minutes. We only heard the Wales fans for half an hour. It’s a bit sad because the team deserved more.” And the crowd at Latvia’s Daugava Stadium returned the favor with some funny chants directed at Tuchel on the touchline.
There was a song that said, “We sing when we want to sing, we sing when we want to sing, Thomas Tuchel, we sing when we want to sing,” and another asked, “Are we loud enough for you?” England fans also sarcastically sang: “Our support is shit” and “It’s dead quiet over there!”
Cheeky chants such as “Tuchel give me a song”, “Where were you when we were shit”, “1-0 but we still won’t sing” and “Tuchel is right, our fans are shit” could be heard from the traveling fans. ITV cameras showed the German player from the dugout giving a thumbs up and thanking the fans, smiling and laughing.
Asked by ITV about the cheerful post-match chants, Tuchel laughed and said: “They gave us a shot in the first half! Fair enough and we did well. We have a good sense of humor, so there are no problems. I can handle it. We had great support from start to finish.”
At the press conference, he further expanded: “They had a reason for my last comment today, which I think is fair enough. I was a little provoked, but I found it very creative. It made me smile, and this is how it should be. This is British humour, and I can accept it. No harm done.”
England captain Kane, who has scored 76 goals in 110 appearances for England, echoed the same sentiment, adding: “I know Thomas came out after the last game and said the fans weren’t great, but you can’t question the support we had away from home and they looked great tonight.”
“We’ve qualified for another tournament. I know the England fans always enjoy going out. America is going to be a special place to play and we have something to look forward to now, thanks to them coming out to the game and the noise they made for us.”
Tuchel is hoping to become only the second English manager in history to win the World Cup, and the first since Sir Alf Ramsey in 1966. Reacting to his team’s recent wins, he said: “It’s great. There’s a really good atmosphere in the dressing room. It was our dream to go to America and now we’ve achieved it again with a good performance and a great result. Six wins, six clean sheets. We’re very happy.”
“We have the upper hand in the game and we are hungry. We are strong on the ball and we are winning a lot of the ball in the opposition half. Look at the last goal. Harry Kane, after a mistake by his team-mate, returned to his own half and helped take the ball away from Ebbs. That’s the summation. It’s good, we’re moving forward.”
“We play very aggressive with a high press and are very physical, so it’s very demanding. It’s a very good group and it’s fun to coach them. We’re taking it one step at a time and we’re getting there.”
Kane said: “It’s a great achievement to qualify with two games left. We didn’t concede any goals and played some great football. We want to compete everywhere and in every position and we have that.”
“We still have some great players who aren’t here and we’re going to need them. We’re going to have to change things up a little bit for the major tournaments. We have some great players who aren’t fit or are injured, but that’s it. Let’s keep pushing each other.”
Tuchel praised his hard-working captain and, when asked if Kane was the best striker he has worked with in his managerial career, said: “He’s at the top of the list. He’s in top shape physically and mentally, he’s full of confidence and I’m very happy for him.”
