Thomas Tuchel will be speaking to the media shortly, albeit later than advertised. Promise.

The England boss will be joined by defender Marc Guehi.

Thomas Tuchel has a lot of thinking to do as he gets ready to name his first side for England's World Cup opener against Croatia in Group L.

While he weighs up his options, here are some key players the Three Lions might need to keep a close eye on in the group stage.

Croatia

England v Croatia, 17 June (21:00 BST)

Image source, Getty Images

Captain. Baller. Legend. Now 40, Luka Modric continues to drive standards and direct play for club and country.

The man in the mask – which he's expected to wear to protect a fractured cheekbone – won the 2018 Ballon d'Or and is Croatia's greatest player of all time.

Ghana

England v Ghana, 23 June (21:00 BST)

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Antoine Semenyo's dream season culminated in him scoring one of the great FA Cup final goals.

The two-footed winger became only the second man after Andy Cole to score 10 or more goals in all competitions for two different teams within the same Premier League season.

Panama

Panama v England, 27 June (22:00 BST)

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Adalberto Carrasquilla is Panama's midfield orchestrator.

His poise, athleticism and high technical level were recognised when he became the first Panamanian to win Concacaf's Men's Player of the Year award in 2024.

Known as 'Coco', the 27-year-old was injured playing for his Mexican club in May and could miss the start of the tournament.

Dive into BBC Sport's full World Cup guide for all the excitement.

The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is almost here. It is the biggest World Cup in history with 48 teams taking place.

The TV coverage will be shared across BBC channels and ITV.

Here's how you can watch and listen to every game from the UK.

One of only eight teams to lift the World Cup, the 1966 champions reached their first World Cup semi-final for 28 years in 2018 but were beaten by Croatia in extra time.

Before 2006, England placed fourth once (1990), reached the quarter-finals five times (1954, 1962, 1970, 1986), made the round of 16 once (1998), had two Group-stage exits (1950, 1958) and did not qualify for three tournaments (1974, 1978, 1994).

Image source, BBC Sport

Image source, BBC Sport

Forty-eight teams, 104 matches - and you can predict them all across the BBC Sport website and app.

A new predictor game is being introduced to cover this year's World Cup, allowing users to pick what they think will be the result from every match.

The new game also features streaks, so make sure to check in each day and make your predictions.

PLAY WORLD CUP PREDICTOR HERE

Players will also have the chance to enter a prize draw to win an official World Cup football signed by members of the BBC World Cup team.

Sami Mokbel
BBC Sport Senior football correspondent

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Liverpool's teenage forward Rio Ngumoha will leave the England camp this week after making a major impression on Thomas Tuchel and his international team-mates.

The 17-year-old, who is not in England's 26-man squad, was named man-of-the-match for his debut performance as a second-half substitute in Saturday's 1-0 World Cup warm-up win over New Zealand.

The Liverpool attacker was one of five supplementary England players taken to the pre-tournament camp in Florida and was only meant to participate in training. However, Tuchel has been so impressed he felt compelled to play him during the first warm-up match - a surprise decision that was vindicated.

That performance had led to assertions that Ngumoha should have been in Tuchel's thinking before now, either included in the final 26, or first in-line for a call-up should a player be injured before the tournament starts.

However, because Ngumoha was not included in Tuchel's initial 55-man squad for the tournament he cannot be drafted in as an injury replacement.

Stephen Warnock
Former England defender on BBC Radio 5 Live

On England's win against New Zealand...

It's not the performance that many would have wanted.

Once the players start to adapt to this climate and this weather, we will start to see improved performances from them. We will start to see the players getting sharper.

Roughly it takes about two weeks to acclimatise and that is when England play Croatia - and that is when you want to see them looking sharp.

The most important thing is how they start the tournament. If they win the game against Croatia, nobody will care about these two warm-up games.

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England

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Thomas Tuchel says Jude Bellingham has a fight on his hands to feature in England's starting line-up at the World Cup because he has "14 or 15 potential starters" in his squad.

The Real Madrid midfielder has only started four times since the German took over as England boss in January 2025, with a further three appearances off the bench.

Tuchel has instead preferred Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers, who has featured in 12 of his 13 matches in charge and was the only player involved in each of England's eight World Cup qualifying matches.

When asked if Bellingham has a fight on his hands to be in the starting XI, Tuchel told reporters: "Yes, he has.

"He is one of the starters, he knows he is one of the starters, but we have 14 or 15 potential starters.

"These roles can always change, but at the moment I think there are 14 or 15 proper starters and Jude is one of them."

Image source, Getty Images

England will face Costa Rica in their final pre-World Cup friendly in Orlando tomorrow.

Costa Rica are currently 52nd in the FIFA men's world rankings but have not qualified for the upcoming World Cup. It's only the second time the Central American nation have failed to qualify for the tournament since 2002.

They were beaten 3-1 by Colombia in a friendly last week.

England last played Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as Roy Hodgson's side wrapped up their miserable group stage campaign with a goalless draw in Belo Horizonte.

While Costa Rica topped the group with two wins and a draw, England finished bottom after defeats to Uruguay and Italy.

We are almost a week out from the beginning of England's World Cup campaign, and we want to know how you're feeling at the moment.

Are you expecting a deep run in to the tournament, or are you fearing an early exit?

Which players do you think will have a strong tournament for the Three Lions?

Tell us all of your early thoughts on all things England using the 'Get Involved' button.

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The England players are doing their best to keep cool when not training in the stifling Florida heat, but there has still been time to play a bit of cricket.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

England

Image source, Getty Images

England head coach Thomas Tuchel fielded entirely different teams in each half as World Cup preparations continued with a narrow victory against New Zealand in their first warm-up game on Saturday.

Harry Kane, the team's ever-reliable captain, headed his 79th England goal in 113 games just seconds before half-time.

Tuchel then made wholesale changes, electing to look at most of his squad as the countdown continued to England's opening group game against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June.

Liverpool's 17-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha, who is not in the 26-player World Cup squad, was given his debut to become the fifth youngest player to represent the Three Lions.

The experimental nature of Tuchel's team was reflected in a low-key affair played in searing heat, but it will have proved to be a useful acclimatisation exercise before Wednesday's final pre-World Cup friendly against Costa Rica in Orlando.

Image source, Getty Images

Hello - it's almost time for the main event.

England boss Thomas Tuchel is holding a press conference tonight before his side's final World Cup warm-up match against Costa Rica in Orlando tomorrow.

After that, the Three Lions will move to their World Cup base in Kansas City before their group stage opener against Croatia next week.

We're expecting to hear from Tuchel at 19:15 BST, and you'll be able to watch every minute of it at the top of this page.