Jordan Pickford on England's War Mentality for Thomas Tuchel

Jordan Pickford says England are ready to “go to war” for Thomas Tuchel. It is not a throwaway line. Not from a goalkeeper who has lived every high and low of this generation.

England arrive in the World Cup last 32 with a familiar weight on their shoulders and a different edge to their mood. Top of Group L after a controlled 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey, they now walk into the knockouts carrying a burden that has hung around since 1966 and a belief that feels sharper than in recent years.

Pickford has been here before. He stood in goal as England reached back‑to‑back European Championship finals under Sir Gareth Southgate, the steady constant through penalty shootouts, tactical reshapes and emotional swings. He has long argued this team has the tools to win a major trophy. This time, he insists, something has shifted.

Asked by BBC Sport what separates this campaign from the near-misses of the past, the Everton goalkeeper went straight to the core of the dressing room.

“Belief, togetherness. I think we have had that previously, but I think the manager’s got that belief in us,” he said.

Tuchel, still relatively early into his reign with England, has clearly made his mark. Pickford painted a picture of a manager who turns team meetings into battle briefings, who tightens focus and hardens resolve rather than simply running through tactics on a screen.

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

That language matters in a tournament that rarely forgives hesitation. England’s goalkeeper talked about a squad aligned behind a single aim, and at a point in their careers where the stakes feel at their highest.

“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,” he said.

This is not just about noise in the dressing room or slogans on the training pitch. Pickford has quietly continued his own work away from the cameras, leaning on a psychologist to refine the mental side of his game. For a player whose performances are judged in a heartbeat, those sessions have become central to his preparation.

Speaking to ITV Sport, he opened up on that process. “(It is) a lot of growth I am working on and being the best version of myself. 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 personal journey now collides with England’s latest knockout test: DR Congo in the last 32. Congo came through as one of the best third-placed sides after beating Uzbekistan on Saturday, a reminder that this stage of the tournament no longer offers soft landings for the traditional powers.

Tuchel will know that. So will Pickford. The narrative around the goalkeeper inevitably drifts towards penalties, to shootouts and fine margins, but he is adamant England want no part of that drama if they can avoid 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.

If the tie stretches and the tension rises, Pickford insists the squad will not blink.

“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.”

There is no attempt to dress up DR Congo as anything other than a serious obstacle. African sides have advanced in numbers at this tournament, and England have paid enough attention to know this is a meeting of very different football cultures, not a formality.

“We are here to do the job. We know Congo is a tough nation, we know how many teams in Africa have qualified for the next round of games,” Pickford said. “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 message is clear. Tuchel has set the tone, the players have bought in, and the goalkeeper who has seen it all before is ready to step back into the storm. Now the war talk meets the reality of knockout football.