Thomas Tuchel did not grow up with rugby. But, having spent so much time in France and England in his career, he has become a fan of the sport. He always wants to learn from other disciplines, and likes to exchange ideas with people from the 15-a-side game.Perhaps it should be no surprise then that England appeared to adopt a rugby tactic in their 4-2 win against Croatia in Dallas on Wednesday. The concept of ‘finishers’, substitutes introduced with specific roles to win the game in the second half, was initially popularised by Eddie Jones, who coached the England rugby team from 2015 to 2022.The genesis of the term came from Jones’ time coaching Japanese club Suntory Sungoliath in 2022. He had two top players for one position, Australian veteran George Gregan and new star signing Fourie du Preez, who had won the 2007 World Cup with South Africa. But only one of them could play at scrum-half. “It was a tricky situation because I wanted to keep players content, happy and playing hard for the team,” Jones told The Athletic in 2022. “With two iconic players in the same position, I tried to think of a solution.”Eddie Jones at Suntory Sungoliath (Toru Hanai/Getty Images)Jones knew from baseball the huge importance of ‘closers’, pitchers who came on for the final innings of the game to see out the win – like Mariano Rivera, the legendary New York Yankees closer, who is now in the Baseball Hall of Fame. So Jones asked Gregan whether he could become the Rivera of their rugby team, playing out the last 20 minutes of a game after Du Preez had started. It worked perfectly: Suntory Sungoliath won consecutive Japanese titles.The solution came from rugby, but the problem it solved is one common to many team sports. “I wanted to make the role of someone who is disappointed about not starting meaningful,” Jones explained. “This term of ‘finishers’ gave that role credence and importance, and it’s worked really well.”And Jones always thought the concept would transfer across easily to football because it is such an “effort-based game” with an emphasis on running off the ball. “So if these players can come on with unbelievable energy and dynamism, that becomes contagious,” he said. “Blokes who felt they were a little tired get energised by these new guys who come on.”Which leads us to England’s 2026 World Cup campaign. The concept of ‘finishers’ has been floating around football for some time. It is not even new to the England team. Gareth Southgate was close with Jones and used the ‘finishers’ term himself. And yet Southgate was often blamed — sometimes fairly, sometimes not — for his conservative use of substitutes in big games.The evidence of Wednesday’s 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas is that Tuchel sees the role of substitutes as key. England used so much energy in the first 70 minutes of their game against Croatia, but for all their dominance they were still only 3-2 up.Tuchel could have let the game drift, or tried to shut it down. But instead he made a triple change of attacking players — Morgan Rogers, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka — designed to keep the pressure on and win the game for England. So it proved, with Saka breaking forward down the right with five minutes left and setting up Rashford, who put the ball in the bottom corner. England were 4-2 up, and the game was over.Marcus Rashford scores after coming on as a ‘finisher’ (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)Tuchel had hinted at this approach before. When England beat Costa Rica 3-0 in a friendly in Orlando — Jordan Henderson called it the best pre-tournament friendly performance he had ever seen — Tuchel threw on substitutes who kept the pressure on, including Ollie Watkins, who scored.“We saw very good substitutes who, of course, will be disappointed to not start and came in and just played with the same intensity and quality against a more tired opponent,” Tuchel told ITV.After the Croatia game, Tuchel referred back to the Costa Rica friendly, how the substitutes “pushed on the buttons, pushed on the gas and kept suffocating the opponent”. He seemed to relish the competition that England now have in wide areas. Anthony Gordon and Noni Madueke started the game, and attacked Croatia with the energy of men who knew they might not get the full 90 minutes. Madueke worked his way in behind Ivan Perisic time after time, Gordon pressed like his life depended on it. And then Saka and Rashford came on and made the game safe.Now Tuchel will have to decide again for the Ghana game on Tuesday who will be his starters and who will be his ‘finishers’. The roles could well change next time. “The level they were competing against each other was at the highest level,” he explained. “Especially in the last week, we had some 10 v 10 in training and some finishing patterns, some attacking patterns, some defensive patterns. Everyone is on, but on in such a respectful way that we had some tough decisions to make. But they know we will need them, and the time will come when they start, the time will come when they finish, and be decisive from the bench at any time.”It is totally plausible that when Saka is ready, he starts, and then Madueke becomes the finisher. A switch between Gordon and Rashford is just as likely at some point. This will be a demanding World Cup, with so many games and so much travel that it is impossible to keep squeezing the same 11 players time after time. The most important thing, even more than the physical or technical capability of the players, is that they buy into what Tuchel is asking.Should England start Madueke over Saka?Duncan Alexander and Tom Williams