Thomas Tuchel has responded to X-rated chants from the travelling England supporters as the Three Lions qualified for the 2026 World Cup. A 5-0 win over Latvia in Riga has secured the country’s place in the biggest tournament in football next summer. The win came courtesy of a Harry Kane brace which followed on from Anthony Gordon’s opener, before a second-half Maksims Tonisevs own goal and a lovely Eberechi Eze finish. But Tuchel was the target of tongue-in-cheek chants from the away fans throughout the match in the Latvian capital on Tuesday night.
After last week’s win over Wales, Tuchel made his frustrations with the Wembley atmosphere clear, claiming the stadium was “silent”. He fumed: “We didn’t get any energy back from the stands. We did everything to win. What more can you give them? Three goals in the first 20 minutes. You only heard Wales fans for half an hour, it’s a bit sad because the team deserved more.” And those inside the Daugava Stadium in Latvia returned the favour with several amusing chants aimed at Tuchel on the touchline.
“We’ll sing when we want, we’ll sing when we want, Thomas Tuchel, we’ll sing when we want,” was one song, while another asked: “Are we loud enough for you?” The England fans also sarcastically sang: “Our support is f*****g s**t” and: “It’s all gone quiet over there!”
“Tuchel give us a song”, “Where were you when we were s***?”, “1-0, and we still don’t sing” and “Tuchel’s right, our fans are s***e,” were other cheeky chants that could be heard from the travelling fans. ITV cameras at one point showed the German laughing it off with a smile as he acknowledged the fans from the dugout with a thumbs up.
And asked about the jovial chants post-match by ITV, Tuchel laughed and said: “I got some stick in the first half, fair enough and well done. Good sense of humour and no problem! I can handle it. It was brilliant support from start to finish.”
Captain Kane, now up to 76 goals in 110 England caps, added to the broadcaster on the same subject: “I know Thomas came out after the last game and said the fans weren’t great, but you can’t question our away support ever and the way they were tonight was fantastic.
“We’ve qualified for another tournament, we know England fans always enjoy going out – America’s going to be a special place to play and we’ve got something to look forward to now. Credit to them for coming out and the noise they gave us.”
The skipper continued: “Qualifying with two games to go is a great achievement, zero goals conceded and playing some great football. You want competition in every place and position, we have that.
“There’s still some fantastic players who aren’t here, and we’re going to need them as well. It’s going to be a little bit chop-and-change going into a major tournament, we’ve got some fantastic players who are not quite fit or injured but that’s it – keep pushing each other.”
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