Tuchel will stick to Southgate's penalty plan

England manager Thomas Tuchel had revealed that his team will follow his predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate's penalty shootout blueprint at the World Cup.

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Tuchel's side face DR Congo in their first knockout game of the tournament on Wednesday, a scenario that opens up the potential for penalties.

The match, which kicks off in Atlanta at 17:00 BST, is live on BBC One and iPlayer.

Prior to Southgate's appointment as manager in 2016, the national team had a poor record in major tournament shootouts - winning just one of seven.

But under Southgate, England took their penalty preparations to a new level which resulted in three out of four successes between 2018 and 2024.

"The FA [Football Association] has a programme that has been in place for years and we follow the programme," Tuchel said.

"We are prepared. We have a process, the players have a process."

Despite the plan, Tuchel also added a note of caution.

"I think it is difficult to simulate the situation [of a shootout]," he said.

"I heard Thierry Henry say he can't remember the walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot in his first penalty shootout for France - you cannot train that."

Asked if the players will be given the option to take a penalty, Tuchel replied: "We know who takes them and we know the order, but we don't know who finishes the game."

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Southgate's meticulous planning included a philosophy based on the belief that penalties were not a lottery, and that clarity and preparation were key.

The team practised penalties regularly and sought to replicate, as far as possible, the actual experience in training to help the process become more driven by muscle memory.

Southgate decided on his penalty takers well in advance based on that training, and strove publicly to take full accountability to take any blame away from his players.

He also assigned each player taking a penalty a "buddy" to greet them at the halfway line after the long walk back. This was designed to share the pressure.

Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also had notes from detailed research of the opponents' likely approach written on his water bottle.

In the Euro 2020 final loss to Italy, Southgate had brought on Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho with seconds to spare at the end of extra time, but both missed their spot-kicks.

After that, Southgate felt this did not allow them enough time to feel part of it, so he adjusted the approach to give penalty takers more time on the pitch beforehand.

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England have been part of 11 penalty shootouts at World Cups, European Championships and Nations League finals.

Before Southgate took charge, the only success was against Spain in the quarter-finals of Euro 96.

Southgate led them to England's first World Cup shootout success in 2018 with victory over Colombia, and another over Switzerland in the Nations League third place play-off the following year.

In 2021, their one shootout loss under Southgate happened, with Italy prevailing in the delayed Euro 2020 final at Wembley.

But at Euro 2024, they bounced back from 12 yards by knocking out Switzerland.

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Meanwhile, Tuchel also said England should not expect a "glamorous performance" against DR Congo.

Tuchel's side won Group L with wins over Croatia and Panama, and a goalless draw against Ghana in between.

The German expects them to play better against better teams in the latter stages of the tournament.

He told BBC Sport: "We face actually a copy of Panama and Ghana in the round of 32.

"We will see the best version of us if we overcome the next rounds and go further in the tournament once... teams want to actually beat us and not hold us down and refuse us to play.

"We expect us to win. Everyone expects us to win. So there's not a lot to win except for matching our expectations."

DR Congo finished third in Group K after a 1-1 draw with Portugal, a 1-0 loss to Colombia and a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan.

"I think this is not the moment now to shine and to expect glamorous performances. This is the moment to go through, to get the job done, to step up, to show individual quality and little moments," added Tuchel.

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