England Dominates Costa Rica as Tuchel's Squad Extends Winning Streak

The thunder rolled, the rain hammered down, and kick-off slipped an hour into the Florida night. It never rattled England.

Once the storms cleared in Orlando, Thomas Tuchel’s side produced the kind of cold, controlled performance that sends a message across a World Cup. Dominant from the first whistle to the last, they swept past Costa Rica 3–0, extended a record-breaking streak to nine consecutive wins away or at neutral venues, and climbed back on the team bus without a single injury. For a manager six days out from a World Cup opener, it does not get much cleaner than that.

Rice sets the tone, Bellingham pulls the strings

The delay could have dulled them. Instead, England treated it like a warm-up.

Declan Rice struck the first blow, finishing a move that underlined the clarity of Tuchel’s blueprint. England pressed, pinched the ball, and moved it with purpose. Rice arrived where good midfielders live – on the edge of the box, in stride, with time to pick his spot – and did exactly that.

Behind him, Jude Bellingham looked every inch the tournament’s central figure in the number 10 role. Sharp, confident, constantly demanding the ball, he knitted attacks together and dragged Costa Rica’s midfield out of shape. It was not just the flicks and bursts through the lines. It was the authority. Six days from Dallas, he already looks in tournament mode.

Tuchel knew it.

“We set the tone today in the meeting and the players were ready,” he said afterwards, clearly energised by what he had seen. “If we can really play like this and grow into the tournament and have this kind of cohesion and brotherhood and team spirit that we showed today, then we will have an amazing connection with the fans and this will hopefully be an amazing experience.”

Gordon and Madueke torment Costa Rica

The real damage came from the flanks.

New Barcelona signing Anthony Gordon and Arsenal’s Noni Madueke never allowed Costa Rica’s full-backs a moment’s peace. Gordon, direct and relentless, drove at his marker every time he received the ball. Madueke, on the opposite side, twisted defenders inside-out, forcing them to retreat towards their own box.

The pressure finally told. Gordon won and converted a penalty, his cool finish from the spot matching the conviction of his performance. Costa Rica argued, waved arms, tried to disrupt him. He simply rolled the ball home.

By then, England’s tactical fluidity was obvious. Wide players drifted inside, Bellingham dropped out to link, Rice stepped forward, and the back line squeezed up. Costa Rica chased shadows. When they did break, England’s shape snapped back into place, the discipline Tuchel demands evident in every recovery run.

Watkins applies the late gloss

The game’s rhythm dipped in the second half, as you would expect in the Florida humidity and with a World Cup so close. Tuchel rotated, protected legs, and experimented with combinations. The control remained.

Ollie Watkins supplied the final flourish with a late header, a classic centre-forward’s goal to cap a quietly ruthless team display. It was not just about the margin of victory. It was the sense that England could shift gears at will, dictate tempo, and still find a way to punish tired defenders in the closing stages.

Tuchel’s satisfaction was obvious, but so was his appetite for what comes next.

“It’s the World Cup and it’s coming,” he said. “Once the ball is rolling and the games are already there, then we’ll feel it…the tension will grow, but it’s normally the stuff that I personally enjoy the most, when you feel that you’re alive.”

Eyes on Kansas City – and Croatia

There is no lap of honour, no time for basking. England now head back to West Palm Beach for one more training session and a behind-closed-doors strategy fixture against Miami FC, a final tune-up designed to sharpen patterns and test ideas away from cameras and noise.

Then comes Kansas City, their primary tournament base, where preparations will harden into a match plan. The margins shrink there. Every drill, every meeting, every selection call starts to carry World Cup weight.

Six days from now in Dallas, a robust Croatia side will stand across from them as England officially launch their quest for World Cup glory. On this evidence in storm-soaked Orlando, Tuchel’s team will arrive with rhythm, with belief, and with a growing sense that this carefully built cohesion might just carry them deep into the summer.