Thomas Tuchel Reflects on England's Remarkable Victory in Mexico City
Thomas Tuchel still thinks about the grass.
Not the tactics board, not the substitutions, not even the noise that rolled around Mexico City that night. The grass. The pitch on which England, with 10 men and the host nation coming at them in waves, produced one of the most remarkable away wins in their history.
England’s 3-2 victory over Mexico in last summer’s World Cup last-16 tie has already slipped into the realm of folklore. For Tuchel, it went deeper than that.
“I texted a friend after the match and I just wrote, I regret that I didn't eat some grass after the match to keep something from this in my body forever,” the England manager told former England striker Daniel Sturridge in an interview for the Football Association. “That was the feeling. That was the moment.”
A night that changed everything
England’s World Cup run ultimately ended in the semi-finals, a familiar kind of heartbreak. But Mexico City was different. That was the night Tuchel felt something lock into place between himself and his squad.
“This game had so much of what you could wish for,” he said. The drama of going down to 10 men. The noise of a home crowd desperate for an English collapse. The resilience that refused to let it happen.
The final whistle brought chaos, joy, and then a jarring reminder of the risks players take for these moments. As the celebrations spilled towards the touchline, Jordan Henderson vaulted an advertising hoarding, landed awkwardly and broke his arm.
Tuchel didn’t see a freak injury first. He saw a team.
“If you needed any proof of what it meant to these players and how they were with each other, it was the moment when Jordan fell over and broke his arm,” he said.
“Within a second, the players were there. Every single player was there stopping the celebrations, building a shield, protecting Jordan – not going nowhere, in full empathy. It was just so special.”
In that huddle around Henderson, Tuchel saw the bond he had been trying to build, suddenly visible, almost physical. Not a slogan. Not a presentation. A reflex.
From Mexico to Euro 2028
That night has not left him. Nor does he want it to.
“It created a huge bond to these players,” Tuchel said. “It feels like they are my players now. This is the beauty of it.
“You have success and you have painful moments together, but you have so much time together and then you create a natural bond. So I'm happy to see them. I'm happy to challenge them, happy to push them, and very proud to be a part of that.”
The challenge now is to turn that emotion into something lasting. England’s next destination is Euro 2028, a tournament they will co-host and one that will define this generation if they allow it to.
Tuchel wants the Mexico City spirit to carry them there.
He knows the landscape. A World Cup in the US will bring its own chaos, its own logistics and distractions. He has already felt how hard it is to prepare for that kind of tournament.
“It's very difficult to prepare for a World Cup in the US, but I think it's possible to prepare for a Euros and we prepare in Nations League Tier One,” he said.
Nations League as the proving ground
The next step comes this month. England host world champions Spain in the Uefa Nations League, then head to Croatia and face the Czech Republic home and away during the international break. Tuchel will name his squad on Friday.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “I think we got another step closer and I think we're there.”
There is evidence to back that belief. England played 10 matches in the US: eight wins, one draw, one defeat. A “painful loss”, as Tuchel described it, but also a platform.
“The target is to have another 10 matches,” he said. “We had 10 matches in the US – eight wins, one draw, one painful loss. That is something to build on.
“We all have the right to hold our heads high and go with courage and positivity into the next challenges. We have four matches in Nations League coming up, and that's where the focus is.”
The grass in Mexico City is long gone. The feeling from that night, Tuchel insists, is not. The question now is whether England can bottle it again when Spain arrive and the real road to Euro 2028 begins.
