Thomas Tuchel says 'I won't engage in this discussion' during ITV interview after Japan defeat

Thomas Tuchel said he 'won't engage' in one particular discussion after England's 1-0 defeat to Japan at Wembley.

The Three Lions conceded the only goal of the game when Brighton's Kaoru Mitoma fired a first-time shot into the bottom corner on 23 minutes.

England took until 77 minutes to have their first shot on target, and though they did probe the Japan goal further in the closing stages, were not able to find an equaliser.

It was their final game at home until the 2026 World Cup, with two friendlies set to take place during a Florida training camp in June before the tournament gets underway.

Having picked an expanded 35-man squad in order to give opportunities to more players - and with the busy upcoming Premier League schedule in mind - Tuchel chose a partially experimental XI for the Japan clash.

Phil Foden operated as a false nine with Cole Palmer behind him, while there were also starts for Ben White and Ezri Konsa among others.

Foden, Palmer and White didn't particularly cover themselves in glory at Wembley, with it being hard to pick out a star performer in general from the 90 minutes.

Speaking to ITV's Gabriel Clarke, Tuchel was asked whether, for those potentially playing for their spot in the World Cup squad, the shirt had been 'weighing heavy' across friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

But the German was quick to shut that line of thinking down, replying: "I don't want to engage in this discussion, because I think it's really clear what we want to do and how we want to play.

"We need to focus more on the principles and the doing, rather than the thinking about what it means.

"Why would Argentina rely on Messi?" 🤔

"Why would Portugal rely on Ronaldo?"

Thomas Tuchel assess his teams 1-0 defeat to Japan, with Harry Kane missing through injury#ITVFootball | @England | @gabrielclarke05 pic.twitter.com/jDVsAhtwvy

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 31, 2026

"It comes with pressure, it comes with noise when you play for England. That's how it is. We need to see how the players adapt to it, and we can only see that if we try it.

"We have to learn from it, we have two months now to get it out of our system. The players will play a lot of football in the next two months, and then we will know."

England's next fixture is against Costa Rica on June 6, before a clash against New Zealand on June 10. Costa Rica will not be at the World Cup, but New Zealand have qualified.

Their first game at the World Cup itself, meanwhile, takes place against Croatia in Group L at the Dallas Stadium, Texas on June 17.