England will face a raucous atmosphere when they face Mexico in the Azteca in the last 16 of the World Cup but Thomas Tuchel believes his experience of managing in the away dugout at Anfield will help02:00, 05 Jul 2026Thomas Tuchel insists he can handle the intimidating atmosphere in the Azteca Stadium - because he learned the hard way at Anfield.‌Tuchel was in charge of Borussia Dortmund back in April 2016 when Liverpool staged one of their greatest-ever comebacks in the Europa League.‌Liverpool twice needed three goals to go through and yet Dejan Lovren’s last-gasp winner sealed the comeback and former Dortmund boss Tuchel still remembers that night painfully.‌England boss Tuchel compared that atmosphere at Anfield to what they may face in Mexico City - and believes the players will be just as ready in the face of such challenges.Tuchel said: “I clearly remember moments in games where you feel like, okay, the stadium is on you. I had the experience in Liverpool in a European match with Dortmund where it was just like the Kop just sucked the balls into the goal.“We were clearly through and we conceded three late goals and it was just coming, you could just feel it, they just sucked the ball into the goal from their end.‌“You have these moments. I think it’s very important we all have these moments, especially in European football and these legendary nights where teams try to turn stuff around and the light is on and things.“So we know what it takes, know what it takes to calm a crowd down. We have the experience and every one of our players loves this and are fully aware it is an iconic moment. They will worship it and it will bring out the best in them I’m sure.”Tuchel was well aware that England may face a tough start as Mexico have made a habit of being fast out of the blocks to try and scare their opponents.‌Mexico have an intimidating home record - they have only lost two competitive games this century in the Azteca - and have yet to concede a goal in their four games in this World Cup. All in the altitude of Mexico City.Tuchel said: “That's my job as a coach. We're fully aware of that. That it took us basically a whole quarter to adapt in our press. I feel that we are fully committed to our press, we are fully committed to the effort that we put in.“But it's not economical. We don't choose the moments great. And we go too early. We go when we're not set. We are impatient.‌“And it has knock-on effects, like the first one goes too early, the second one joins, no-one says 'no no no we don't go!', the third one just goes and wants to repair it, and this leaves us disjointed. It leaves us with two big distances. And it leaves us in the wrong moment.“So we know, and we worked on it, we need to pick our moments better, where to press, when to press.‌"And then we need to be more in sync, we need to be more compact, we need to take care of our distances, we need to check our shoulders and we need to be smart and pick the right moments, when to go into the press.“Especially in the first 20 minutes. Then we got it better. And then we got the momentum of the match back.”Tuchel also expects the first 20 minutes could be the hardest physical test - but their reward will come if they survive.‌Tuchel added: “It’s also what we expect that feels very very hard, the 20 minutes, the 15 minutes, what other teams tell us, who went in there late, without acclimatisation. That they said, the first 15-20 minutes is basically the one where you basically hit a wall.“But when you go through it, it gets better. And that's exactly why Mexico starts their games like this. They just want to suffocate you. Let's see. We have a plan, we will be fine, I think we will be fine.”Tuchel also insists they are not over reliant on Harry Kane in the same way that Argentina rely on Lionel Messi.‌Tuchel said: “I don’t think we’re “over-relying”. What does this mean? That Barcelona and Argentina over-relied on Messi? Its just what it is. Everyone is doing their job to find these spaces for Harry and then Harry is doing what he does.“But everyone is committed and everyone is involved when we scored goals so it seems like a one man show but it is not a one man show for anyone.“And yeah you see the top players scoring a this World Cup, clearly. I think we will get better once the playing field levels out, when we’re not this huge favourite and the teams will come to actually beat us and expect to beat us from themselves.Article continues below“I think this is where we will see our identity, quality coming more out.”Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.