England have put World Cup disappointment behind them, says Tuchel

Oct 7 - England have moved on from their World Cup semi-final disappointment and taken an important step forward with their performances in the Nations League, manager Thomas Tuchel said.

After suffering a 3-2 defeat by world champions Spain in their Nations League opener, England responded with home and away wins over the Czech Republic and a 7-0 thrashing of Croatia, scoring 14 goals in their opening four matches.

Tuchel, who has continued to face questions about England's 2-1 World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina, said the team had built on the progress made in the tournament in North America rather than starting from scratch as they target success at Euro 2028 on home soil.

"I think it's necessary to move on," the 53-year-old told reporters after Tuesday's 3-0 win over the Czechs at Wembley.

"I can only repeat that we didn't go out in the group stage, sometimes it feels like that, but we didn't.

"There was criticism and scepticism around, but I said we don't have to start completely new because we can build on what we achieved together. We played some high-level competitive football in the World Cup.

"Now we move to the next step and it's always important to take the next step. The commitment and attitude of the players from the first day in camp have been at a very high level and I'm happy that we have shown it in all four matches."

England resume their Nations League campaign against Croatia on November 12. REUTERS