Jordan Pickford Prepares England for World Cup Battle Against DR Congo

Jordan Pickford does not bother with half-measures. Not this deep into a World Cup, not with England staring at a last‑32 tie that can tilt a tournament one way or the other.

“We’re ready to go to war,” the goalkeeper declared, and he meant it. This is a squad that has spent decades living with the weight of 1966. Now, under Thomas Tuchel, it sounds like it wants to fight its way out from under it.

Tuchel’s England, not Southgate’s shadow

Pickford has lived the recent history. He was there under Sir Gareth Southgate, part of the England sides that marched to back‑to‑back European Championship finals and came agonisingly close to ending the drought. That experience hardened him. It also gave him a clear sense of what feels different this time.

“Belief, togetherness,” he told BBC Sport when asked what sets this campaign apart. England have talked about unity before, but Pickford points straight at the new man in the dugout. “I think we have had that previously, but I think the manager’s got that belief in us.”

Tuchel’s impact, as described by his goalkeeper, is not subtle. His meetings are not classroom lectures; they are rallying calls.

“The meetings the manager has with us, it is like you are ready to go to war,” Pickford said. “He puts that belief in you. There is different meetings he has tactically, and it is like ‘yeah, it is go time’.”

That phrase – “go time” – could hang over this whole England campaign. They topped Group L with a controlled 2-0 win over Panama in New Jersey, securing first place and avoiding early chaos in the bracket. Now the real jeopardy begins.

A squad in its moment

Pickford talks about a group arriving at the right point in their careers. The sense is of a squad that knows its window is open now, not in two tournaments’ time.

“We all want the same goal, we all want that end goal and this squad he has picked, we are all in good spirits and all in good moments in our career,” he said.

That matters in knockout football. Players who feel they are at their peak tend to play like it. There is less fear of failure, more urgency to seize the chance.

Pickford is not leaving any of it to chance. Away from the cameras and the huddle, he continues to work with a psychologist, a routine he has leaned on for years to sharpen his concentration when the margins shrink to inches and milliseconds.

Speaking to ITV Sport, he framed it as a long-term project rather than a quick fix. “(It is) a lot of growth I am working on and being the best version of myself. We have got targets, who I am working with, and it is about being the best version of me and where that can take me. We know the journey it can take me on, and believing in that, and being me.”

For a goalkeeper, that inner calm is as important as reflexes. One moment, one penalty, one decision can define a World Cup.

Congo next – and no appetite for drama

The immediate task is DR Congo in the last 32, a tie that looks straightforward only on paper. Congo slipped into the knockouts as one of the best third‑placed teams after beating Uzbekistan on Saturday, a route that often produces awkward, fearless opponents with nothing to lose.

Pickford is well aware that his reputation from the spot could be decisive if the game drags into extra-time and penalties. He has lived that script before. He is not eager to repeat it.

“We want to win the game in 90 minutes,” he told ITV, making England’s intentions clear. They want control, not chaos. “But we will be ready as a team, as a group, as England to do what it takes to get the victory.”

That readiness stretches across the squad. Tuchel’s bench is stacked with players capable of tilting a match late on, and Pickford made a point of underlining that depth.

“If it goes to penalties, extra-time, we have got the ability, we have got the lads to come off the bench, our togetherness is a high level and that is what we are here to do.”

Respect for Congo, no hiding from expectation

There is no hint of England taking Congo lightly. Pickford spoke with clear respect for the challenge ahead and the broader rise of African teams in this tournament.

“We are here to do the job,” he said. “We know Congo is a tough nation, we know how many teams in Africa have qualified for the next round of games. They are a proud nation, and we have got to be ready for what they bring – but it is also about what we bring as a group, and we will be right after them.”

That last line captures England’s mood. Respect, yes. Deference, no.

The knockout stages do not forgive hesitation. For Tuchel, this is his first crack at shaping England in his own image at a major tournament. For Pickford and the core of this squad, it may be one of their last chances to turn years of “nearly” into something permanent.

War is a metaphor here, of course. But the intent behind it is not. England have drawn their battle lines. Now they have to prove that all this belief, all this togetherness, can finally carry them beyond history and into something new.