Man Utd legend Paul Scholes makes World Cup prediction for England after perfect qualifying campaign

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes believes that Thomas Tuchel will be the man to help England ‘get over the line’ and win the World Cup next summer.

England picked up a hard-fought 2-0 win over Albania on Sunday to end their World Cup qualifying campaign with a perfect record.

The Euro 2024 finalists also became the first European nation to ever go through an entire World Cup qualifying campaign of over six matches without conceding a goal.

Despite only arriving in the post at the start of the year, Tuchel has quickly got to grips with this England side, with impressive victories away at Serbia and at home to Wales showcasing their potential under the German.

England are now not back in action until March next year, when preparations for the World Cup in north America will start to come to the boil.

And while far bigger tests await in North America next summer, Scholes, capped 66 times by his country, sees no reason why Tuchel can’t guide England to their first senior men’s major trophy since 1966.

‘I really think they will win the World Cup, I do honestly,’ the former United and England midfielder said on The Good, The Bad & The Football. ‘I think they’re a great team.’

‘Now look, they’ve got to still beat the teams they probably don’t expect to beat, which they haven’t done, but I think the manager is brilliant as well. I think this manager is the one that could get them over the line.

‘I know a lot of people are saying about ‘it’s in America, it’s going to be boiling’, but so what? We have like 65, 70 per cent possession every time that team.

‘If it was our team (back when Scholes was playing) with 30, 40 per cent possession, no chance in America, but this team they keep the ball all day long.

‘Gareth (Southgate) did a great job to bring the squad together, the trouble he had then was going to that next level and actually winning something, beating one of them better teams.

‘Now, we’ve got a manager who is ruthless and he doesn’t care. It’s all about his team, it’s not about individuals. I love the way he’s going about it.’

Tuchel has not been afraid to make the big calls since arriving in the role, most notably leaving Jude Bellingham out of the squad for October’s international break despite the Real Madrid midfielder being fit and available.

And the German’s no-nonsense attitude has also gone down well with Nicky Butt, who admitted he had reservations about Tuchel taking the role due to his nationality.

‘As an outsider looking in, you know who is the boss, and I think that’s a massive thing,’ the former United midfielder added.

‘When you’ve got so many big players with big egos, you have to be the manager, you have to be the boss, you have to be the one that tells them off and puts them in their place. And when they deserve an arm around the shoulder and a well done, he gives them that as well.

‘For me, the only thing I don’t like is that it’s not a British coach but that’s just me – other people might no believe that – but what he is doing is giving them a real chance of togetherness and feeling like they are loved at that England side.’

England will discover their fate for next summer in December’s draw, but Tuchel will have to wait until March before he sees any of his England players again for another full international camp.

‘It hurts me honestly, I told the players, I have to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year now,’ he said after his side’s win against Albania.

‘I cannot believe it and in my heart, everything in me wants to be with you guys on Wednesday again on the sidelines and fight and Saturday again and they sucked me into all of this. This is just amazing. It will be very very tough for me to not have a match until March.

‘They have been outstanding. The level of detail cannot always be right. But the commitment to accept mistakes, the commitment after ball losses … to put the head down, to just run; run it off.

‘This has been outstanding through the last camps and I think you can feel it. This is what I talked about and I hope that somehow we make it so that you watch this team and you feel like, ‘Wow. They really mean it.’

‘It is a privilege to work with these players because I love their character and their attitude and how they are shaped so this I knew and today I could say everything played out perfectly because from the first camp, I could feel the energy.

‘Then we had a little dip in summer but then the way we reacted and built from there in the three camps was just outstanding so it is a privilege every day so full credit to the players for their commitment and it makes me of course very happy and very proud.’

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