England’s current manager, Thomas Tuchel, has a record of not being afraid of sidelining some big names, such as Man City’s Phil Foden and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, out of his squad.

His contract is set to expire at the end of this summer’s World Cup, and speaking on what qualities he’d consider in selecting the squad for the global tournament, he mentioned the need for the right social skills in players.

His comments come at a time when his side prepares for two friendlies in the next two months against Uruguay and Japan, before naming his squad for the finals, where England will face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in the group stages.

On his part, his goal is to attain the right balance in his squad, and not necessarily just the best players.

“When I speak to players who have been in World Cups, it has always made the difference when the connection was right, when the communication was right. When the players had the feeling that the right group was in camp, that they knew their role, why they were in camp, what was expected of them, and they had the feeling that the tournament could even go on for another four weeks, and they would be happy to be together, then they were successful.

“It will be very important that we don’t select just for talent, but also for what we need from a player. What are the social skills of a player? Is he a good team-mate? Can he support if his role is maybe the supporting role? So, this is where the focus is,” he said.

England have reached the past two Euros finals and were World Cup semi-finalists under Southgate in 2018. They face Croatia in Arlington, Texas, on 17 June, at the start of what could potentially be a long tournament.

“We will have a lot of players out there who hopefully play until May for international titles, they will play for national titles, and we will demand that the World Cup will demand a lot out of them. Then we will hopefully be six to eight weeks together if we make it until the very end. It will demand a lot of our social skills, how we are together as a group, and we need to get the nomination right”, Tuchel said.

A global statement shared by FIFA suggests that half a million requests for tickets have been made from across the world for tickets for the upcoming World Cup in June.

The statement shared on the football governing body on Wednesday, January 14, mentioned that, “more than half a billion ticket requests submitted during the Random Selection Draw ticket sales phase, which ran from Thursday, 11 December 2025 to Tuesday, 13 January 2026.

FIFA said it received approximately 15 million ticket requests daily over the about a month application window, marking a new record in the history of football.

“With each application validated by unique credit card data, fans placed an average of 15 million ticket requests per day over the 33-day application window, setting a new benchmark for demand in the history of world sport”, parts of the statement said.

Out of the over 500 million ticket requests, the majority came from Germany, England, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Colombia, aside from the host countries; USA, Mexico and Canada.

It added that, “The most coveted match in this sales phase was Colombia v. Portugal on Saturday, 27 June in Miami. The top 5 was completed by Mexico v. Korea Republic in Guadalajara on Thursday, 18 June; the final in New York New Jersey on Sunday, 19 July; the tournament’s opening match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City on Thursday, 11 June; and the round-of-32 match in Toronto on Thursday, 2 July – highlighting the exceptional appeal of both marquee fixtures and knockout-stage encounters across all three host nations”.

Given the outstanding requests, FIFA President Gianni Infantino expressed his excitement and gratitude to fans all over the world for the massive response.

“Half a billion ticket requests in just over a month is more than demand – it’s a global statement. On behalf of FIFA, I would like to thank and congratulate football fans everywhere for this extraordinary response,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

He continued, "Knowing how much this tournament means to people around the world, our only regret is that we cannot welcome every fan inside the stadiums. That is why we are committed to creating multiple ways for fans to be part of the FIFA World Cup 2026, through a wide range of fan experiences beyond the stadiums, both in person and online, so that as many people as possible can share in what will be the biggest sporting event ever staged."

US to prioritise visa appointments for 2026 FIFA World Cup ticket holders

In November last year, the White House announced that fans set to travel for the tournament to the USA will be given the FIFA Prioritised Appointment Scheduling System (Pass), given that most of the matches will be played there.

The FIFA Prioritised Appointment Scheduling System (FIFA PASS) is a special visa‑interview scheduling program created by the U.S. government and FIFA for the 2026 World Cup. It gives ticket holders priority access to U.S. visa appointments, ensuring fans can travel to matches in North America despite existing visa backlogs.

Speaking during a joint press briefing with FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the White House in Washington, D.C., on 17 November, President Donald Trump mentioned that “I’ve directed my administration to do everything within their power to make the 2026 World Cup an unprecedented success.”

Detailing how the ‘World’ will gain access into the US, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that, ticket-holders for the tournament, set for next June and July in the US, Canada and Mexico, will not be automatically granted a tourist visa.

But foreign nationals with tickets to World Cup football matches could get an interview at an embassy or consulate within six to eight weeks of applying, Rubio said.

“Your ticket is not a visa; it doesn’t guarantee admission to the US. We’re going to do the same vetting as anybody else would get. The only difference here is we’re moving them up in the queue,” the Secretary noted.