Former Tottenham striker and World Cup winner Jurgen Klinsmann has offered a stark assessment of England’s recent tournament woes, suggesting the national side harbours an in-built fear of winning major trophies.
His comments follow Sir Gareth Southgate’s side twice coming agonisingly close to European Championship glory, losing the 2021 and 2024 finals to Italy and Spain respectively.
Klinsmann, who won the World Cup with West Germany in 1990 and famously inflicted pain on England during his playing career, believes that in crucial moments, an innate instinct to retreat takes over.
“There’s something in the decisive moment, like the Euro finals, that makes them scared of themselves, because once they get in close to actually win their final, being right there, there’s something that triggers in their brain saying, ‘Oh, no, we cannot do it’,” he told the Men in Blazers podcast.
He elaborated on this psychological barrier, stating: “It doesn’t give them the real belief to say, ‘Let’s do it now’. They go up, then they go in a lower gear and they just start to defend instead of just finishing off the game and scoring another goal.”
Klinsmann stressed the necessity of risk for ultimate success, adding: “If you want to win a World Cup you have to risk. You’re not going to win a World Cup by defending only. That’s maybe where England is lacking. The last little piece is if you are up 1-0, you’ve got to score the second goal and close it off.”
Looking ahead, England will attempt to win the World Cup in North America next summer under Klinsmann’s compatriot, Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel has already spoken of the ambition to “put a second star on the shirt”, reflecting the overwhelming expectation for England to challenge for the trophy that they last won in 1966.
Klinsmann acknowledges a significant shift in mindset within the England camp.
“It’s actually a progress in England,” he noted. “Now they are actually saying, ‘We are going to get there, we want to win the World Cup’.
“When I still played they never believed in winning the World Cup. And now they reach high because they have an exceptional team.”
