Thomas Tuchel confirms England will copy Gareth Southgate plan for World Cup clash with DR Congo

It's the time of the tournament where one lapse of concentration or a single sliced shot can cost England their World Cup journey.

The knockouts are well and truly underway, with Thomas Tuchel's England taking on DR Congo after meandering through a group stage with few troubles.

The jeopardy of World Cup knockouts means that teams have to be on their A-game from now on, with the lottery of penalties awaiting any sides that can't press home any advantages.

The bitter shootout has already claimed the scalps of two of Europe's giants, making a mockery of the Germany side with elite players apparently dodging the chance to take a penalty, leaving Jonatrhon Tah to take his first spot kick ever, which he blazed over and sent the nation home.

For England, they have a mixed bag of results when it comes to penalties. Historically, before the arrival of Gareth Southgate, the Three Lions' record was dismal, winning just one of the seven shootouts at major tournaments, including the Euro 1996 semi-finals, where the former England boss missed a crucial penalty against Germany.

The centre-back-turned-manager transformed that record, winning three of the four shootouts during his tenure in the dugout, deploying a tactical shift rather than relying on class and composure.

Now, Thomas Tuchel will continue that style, as he claimed Southgate is the one when it comes to shootouts.

Tuchel details plans to follow Southgate's penalty schemes

Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Tuchel said that Southgate set up FA-wide schemes to prepare the national teams (England and its youth systems) and he will not be changing the process.

"The FA has a programme that has been in place for years and we follow the programme," he said.

"We are prepared. We have a process; the players have a process."

Southgate's system included meticulous planning and frequent practices, hoping to drive home muscle memory that will take over, rather than allowing players to go up with a foggy mind. He also assigned a 'buddy' system to greet players going to and from the spot, hoping to halve the burden on the spot-kick taker.

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Tuchel revealed that he knows a rough 'order' of the penalty takers, although that could waver depending on who is on the pitch and who he thinks is best-equipped to deal with the pressure.

"It is difficult to simulate the situation [of a penalty shootout]," he said.

"I heard Thierry Henry say he can't remember the walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot in his first penalty shootout for France - you cannot train that."

The current England boss has endured heartbreak in shootouts before, revealing that he never put effort into penalty preparations for Bayern Munich, only for them to lose the DFB Pokal Final (the German equivalent to the FA Cup) in a shootout against Dortmund in 2016.

"A very painful experience and a big, big scar on me, because I felt really, really badly that I had let myself down, so it was the first time. It will never happen again," he said.

The English system puts the onus on the manager too, who assumes full responsibility for the penalty system, rather than the likes of the Netherlands, where Zlatan Ibrahimovic ripped into Ronald Koeman's approach as they were eliminated.