ORLANDO — England’s pre-World Cup camp is over, and now the adventure begins.
Coach Thomas Tuchel was keen to split the squad’s preparations into two distinct parts: an acclimatization phase in Miami featuring two friendlies, before moving to their World Cup base in Kansas City on Saturday. Tuchel has described that switch as “going into the tunnel” when “the tension will rise just naturally” and tournament mode is engaged. Before heading into that tunnel, the players were given free time Friday for one last sojourn with family and friends prior to bunkering down.
ESPN has followed England for the last week in Florida (West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Tampa and Orlando) to answer one question: Are they finally ready to win a major tournament for the first time in 60 years?
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Relaxed start
At first glance, the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis & Pickleball Center is the sort of unassuming setting more suited to high society than high performance. But the venue — about 20 minutes north of West Palm Beach — hosted Real Madrid last summer and will provide Portugal with their base during the tournament.
Sources have told ESPN that England used different training pitches to the ones Portugal will use due to FIFA regulations. Tucked away around a five-minute walk from the Tennis & Pickleball Center Clubhouse, local police and the FA’s own security team protect access to the two pitches, seeded with the Bermuda grass that will also comprise the World Cup surfaces.
Those using the tennis courts seemed largely unaware of England’s presence. One member of the local security team, speaking anonymously to ESPN, said they were already planning for the “special case” that is Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He has the most Instagram followers, I think, of anyone in the world, so if we can get a picture of him at our facility, it’ll be great,” they said.
England won’t have minded the relative anonymity. Sessions were held in the morning in a conscious effort to give the players their afternoons and evenings free. Speakers placed at one end of the main pitch blasted out music, with the tunes selected by ex-Arsenal masseur Joel Harris.
Once the work was done, the group was allowed to roam. Families and friends spent time at the team’s Belgrove Resort and Spa hotel. Marc Guéhi visited the beach and met family for coffee in Palm Beach. Sources told ESPN that Harry Kane, Jordan Pickford, John Stones and Elliot Anderson all played golf with Brooks Koepka during their downtime. Kane is believed to have organized the gathering.
The Arsenal quartet of Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze were all given an extended break after their UEFA Champions League final involvement and joined up with the squad last weekend, staying back in Palm Beach Gardens as the team went to Tampa to play New Zealand.
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Teething problems
That’s not to say that everything ran smoothly. Tournaments always spark a scramble to secure the best facilities, and while sources suggest Tuchel and the FA were satisfied with their Palm Beach Gardens base, the overall program has been more complicated than ideal.
Sources told ESPN that England based themselves in southern Florida on the basis at least one of their warm-up games would take place in Miami. But in the end, they were staged in Tampa (a four-hour drive away) and Orlando (2½ hours away).
The pitch in Tampa was palpably substandard. Saturday’s 1-0 win over New Zealand was played on a surface laid just a few days earlier, and only three weeks after a Post Malone concert took place across the stadium floor.
The Raymond James Stadium is home to NFL side Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and England’s presence felt like an afterthought with 25,889 fans in attendance — a respectable number (and better than the organizers had feared a few days earlier), but still well below half the flexible capacity.
At least they had the heat that day. Temperatures reached 91 degrees at kickoff in Tampa, but back in Palm Beach Gardens, three of England’s sessions took place in heavy rain. Tuchel revealed that one training day was delayed by almost an hour due to a storm.
That was, at least, preparation for their second game, Costa Rica in Orlando, again delayed by 60 minutes due to extreme weather conditions. Fans who had ventured to the Inter&Co Stadium — home of MLS club Orlando City — early were told to leave and find shelter on the concourses with lightning in the area.
The disruption proved to be minimal. England’s team hotel was just a 10-minute drive away and, given advanced warning of the delayed kickoff — a flood alert was issued for downtown Orlando around two hours earlier — the squad stayed put and made the journey 30 minutes later than originally planned.
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The game itself was competitive, in the tackles at least. Costa Rica ended with four players booked as Anderson, Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke were among those on the receiving end of robust challenges in a 3-0 England win.
It evoked memories of the last time England came to Miami for a pre-tournament camp, in 2014. Again arriving in an attempt to acclimate to hot conditions, England landed in the middle of hurricane season to play an ill-tempered pair of friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras. Raheem Sterling was sent off in the first game and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain suffered a knee injury that would rule him out of the World Cup in Brazil. England ended up being knocked out after just eight days following defeats to Italy and Uruguay.
This time, they head into their opening game 12 years on with more optimism, however. Injuries were avoided and England put in an assertive display Wednesday, much improved from New Zealand. They ended with 80% possession, 28 shots and an xG of 4.76 as England maintained their control and threat throughout.
Signs of the work Tuchel has been doing on the training ground were clear in their patterns of play. He said postmatch: “We see the adaptation to the heat, to the climate and we see things clicking. But we demanded it today from the players to take the next step and they did.”
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Selection issues
Tuchel claimed early in camp that he had identified a group of “14 or 15 starters” within his 26-man squad. If he was hoping for a reaction from certain individuals in the second warm-up game against Costa Rica, he certainly got it.
There are arguably three selection issues for England: Jude Bellingham or Morgan Rogers at No. 10, Anthony Gordon or Marcus Rashford on the left wing and three center backs vying for two places at the heart of the defense.
The case for Rogers centers as much on what he does without the ball as with it. In that context, it felt significant that Bellingham took just eight seconds to press the ball out for a throw-in against Costa Rica.
It was a moment that set the tone for an influential display, serving as a reminder of the major talent everyone knows him to be. Gordon was arguably more effective, making England’s first goal for Rice and then scoring the second from the penalty spot.
John Stones’ fitness has been questioned after playing just 253 minutes for Manchester City since December, but Tuchel is a known admirer and the 32-year-old started alongside Ezri Konsa against Costa Rica. The pair were barely tested, but it puts the positional battle with Guéhi firmly in the balance ahead of the Group L opener against Croatia.
Stones was substituted on 63 minutes in a raft of changes which also included Reece James, who came through unscathed as he looks to build up his sharpness having started just one game — the FA Cup final — since March 14 due to hamstring issues.
Saka came off the bench to play the final 27 minutes after Tuchel hinted at concerns the Arsenal winger was still managing an Achilles issue that has bothered him since March. Sources close to the player have told ESPN that Saka expects to be fully fit when England face Croatia on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
Marginal gains
Sources have confirmed to ESPN that Tuchel encouraged his squad to take their postseason vacations in the same time zone as the U.S.’s Eastern seaboard. Kane went to the Bahamas while Saka enjoyed a break in Miami, flying to New York for a commercial appearance.
Of course, the planning began much sooner. ESPN reported in June last year that, ahead of a training camp in Spain, England’s Football Association created digital capsules for the players to swallow designed to better understand how each player reacted to hot conditions.
Upon arrival in Palm Beach, England announced a new development in their partnership with Lucozade — a new high-carb 350ml liquid pouch developed exclusively for the Three Lions.
The FA’s nutrition team — led by Dr. Chris Rosimus — has focused on finding what they term ‘Tactical Fuel Advantages’ and plan to use the pouches during hydration break to help England players last in the heat.
During training, the players are wearing wristband health monitors — made by Whoop — to track how each individual responds to the sessions and conditions. It is something of a continuation of the Oura rings they wore while in camp at Euro 2024. The players are also trying out palm-cooling technology, as there is scientific evidence that it helps the body core cool down quicker.
Tuchel has also encouraged a focus on outdoor dining to help with team cohesion, with barbecues a regular occurrence at lunch and dinner.
Thursday’s final step was a friendly against USL Championship side side Miami F, followed by a team bonding dinner in West Palm Beach organized by the players. The game was expected to be a shorter affair — Tuchel suggested “two times 30 minutes” to give those players not fully involved against Costa Rica a chance to find their sharpness. Ivan Toney scored a hat trick in the 6-0 win while Jordan Henderson, Ethan Nwaneri and Rio Ngumoha (the latter pair being part of England’s touring party, but not their World Cup squad) scored the other goals.
And then comes the downtime: 36 hours where the group is fully trusted to act responsibly, switch off physically and mentally before the serious stuff begins. We soon find out if it works.
