2026-05-28 08:53:44
Prince William has backed England’s support staff to “rise to the occasion” at the World Cup.
The Prince of Wales – a keen football fan who serves as Patron of the Football Association (FA) – gave a final good luck message to manager Thomas Tuchel’s backroom staff at the St George’s Park training base on Wednesday (27.05.26) and expressed confidence that they can help the players end 60 years of hurt in North America.
William said: “I just wanted to take the opportunity to see the team behind the team today, and to say thank you and good luck to all of you guys who don’t get as much acknowledgement or credit as you deserve.
“It’s a big team that gets on that plane. It’s a big team that looks after them. Not everyone gets to see the hard work you put in, and the success of the players comes from the foundations you built, so thank you.
“It’s not going to be an easy tournament as you well know. It’s going to be one of the hardest World Cups there’s probably been in the modern era, but I have no doubt you’ll rise to the occasion and deliver on all the things that you do so brilliantly.”
England boss Tuchel has named his 26-man squad for the tournament – where the Three Lions play their opening game against Croatia on June 17 – and captain Harry Kane has acknowledged that they will be “one of the favourites” to take home the trophy.
The Bayern Munich striker said: “I think our squad is as good as we’ve ever had.
“I think when you look at the starting XI, you look at the players coming off the bench, we’re going into the tournament as one of the favourites.
“We’ve been building together as a team over the past few camps under Thomas.
“I think we’ve set the standard, and now we look forward to continuing this into the World Cup next month.
“There’s always something special about playing at the World Cup.
“There’s a special feeling inside, especially when you win.
“We know how much a World Cup win would mean, not just to us, but to the fans and the country itself.
“That’s what drives us on the pitch, and hopefully we can bring it home for the fans.”
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