Thomas Tuchel’s national anthem vow as England land in Dallas to join 10,000 fans for crunch opening clash with Croatia

ENGLAND’S German coach Thomas Tuchel has vowed to sing the national anthem if the Three Lions reach the World Cup final. The former Chelsea manager revealed that he is ready to belt out God Save The King should the boys battle to the brink of glory on July 19. Tuchel — who flew to Dallas with his 26-man squad last night ahead of the opener with Croatia — has kept quiet during the anthem at previous England games. Asked whether he would join in before the match at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Bavarian-born Tuchel smiled: “Not yet. I think we are not there yet. “At the very end maybe. I am still a bit shy. I don’t want to offend people and don’t want to have the focus on that now.” Asked if he knew the words, he laughed: “It’s not so difficult.” READ MORE ON THE WORLD CUP Tuchel’s anthem pledge came as 10,000 England fans began flooding into nearby Dallas ahead of the group game crunch clash. The only foreign England coach ever to sing the anthem was Swede Sven-Göran Eriksson who appeared to struggle with the lyrics. Fabio Capello, our Italian coach at the 2010 tournament in South Africa, stood in stern-faced silence as the anthem was sung before the 4-1 quarter-final defeat to Germany. Sweden’s English manager, Graham Potter, sings their anthem but the USA’s Argentinian coach Mauricio Pochettino does not join in with The Star-Spangled Banner. Most read in Sport England had a last pre-match training session yesterday at the Swope Soccer Village base in Kansas City before the flight to Dallas. The squad had an escort from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport to The Adolphus hotel, their £420-a-night downtown base. Tuchel suffered a blow before the flight as Newcastle full-back Tino Livramento suffered a tournament-ending calf injury. Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah, 26, will fly out to replace the heartbroken 23-year-old. WORLD CUP 2026 FREE BETS AND SIGN UP OFFERS The squad, already rocked by a theft of their gear and tornado alerts in Kansas, were otherwise unchanged, with morale high. Among those who will be cheering them on will be Joe Tolley, 26, who spent £7,000 — including £3,000 on flights and hotels — plus another £320 on a cowboy Stetson hat after jetting into the oil city. Teacher Joe, 26, a Leeds fan, said he had saved for years to fund the trip with friends Jacob Bradbury, 26, and James Roebuck, 25. Joe, chanting “Football’s Coming Home” outside Dallas’s Harwood Arms pub said: “The hat’s cost me a fortune but I thought it was important to look the part here. The party’s just getting started.” Burnley fan James, a warehouseman, said: “The ticket prices are ridiculous but we’ve saved up. “We didn’t want to miss this. We paid £800 for our seats but we met two lads who forked out £1,300 so we feel like we’ve got a bargain.” Middlesbrough fan Lee Fitzgerald, 48, and wife Nicola, 46, spent £8,000 on their trip to watch the opening game and the next Group L match against Ghana in Boston. Gas fitter Lee said: “We’re both season-ticket holders but love England as well so we decided to start saving for this years ago. “The city’s getting lively now with England shirts everywhere and I’m sure it’ll be worth every penny.” But ticketless England fans praying for a late price crash were stunned yesterday when prices shot up. The cheapest seat on Fifa’s official resale site, where soccer’s greedy fatcats pocket 30 per cent of each sale, was £1,067 last night. That is more than double the price charged in early June. Three Lions fan Andy Thompson, 46, from Birmingham said: “The prices are ridiculous but I’m in town for the atmosphere and hoping for a last-minute bargain. “But if it doesn’t happen I’ll watch it on TV and join the party in the pubs. Like England — I can’t lose.” Three Lions fans taking trips to see the stadium, which has a retractable roof, were treated to rare bargain beers yesterday. Bosses at The Hooligan pub near the home of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team promised £5 pints. Landlady Estee Kramerov, 47, said: “We might be called The Hooligan but we won’t put up with any nonsense. We will have security guards, including off-duty cops, but we don’t expect any trouble. STARM IT DOWN By Nick Parker ENGLAND fans may get into trouble with Fifa and US authorities if they continue anti-Keir Starmer chants. During the team’s friendly last week some supporters sang that the Prime Minister “is a w****r”. At least one flag with the same message has been spotted in Dallas. Fifa prohibits any political chanting and “offensive language or gestures”. The FA is also at risk. It could be fined if the anti-Starmer chants are heard at matches. The FA is aware of Sir Keir being targeted. Offensive language could also lead to supporters running into difficulty with officials in the US. A strict code of conduct applies to behaviour in stadiums there, with fans ejected if they cross a line. “It’s going to be party time here before and after the big match.” Romie Kimbrough, general manager at The Londoner, an English pub a stone’s throw from the stadium, said: “We are expecting hundreds and hundreds of Brits. “We will easily get through four kegs of just Guinness — that’s about 500 pints — before the game is even finished. We’ve had to triple the amount of beers we usually order because England are playing.” Doors will open at most pubs at 11am today amid forecasts of sweltering 34C (93.2F) heat. Beers for as little as a fiver outside the ground will cost three times that inside the stadium at extortionate Fifa outlets. Public boozing in Dallas is highly restricted but the city’s armed police said they would not enforce the rules if fans were well behaved. One Stetson-wearing cop outside the stadium said: “We don’t want to be putting anyone in jail. It’s game day so we will allow people a bit of a pass. We know Brits drink a lot so we are prepared for it.” Meanwhile, Donald Trump, 80, will breach protocol and present the World Cup to the winning captain, Fifa sources said. The US President wants to hand over the trophy at New Jersey’s MetLife stadium and join player celebrations. Ordinarily, the trophy would remain on a plinth and be carried by a member of the winning team on to the celebration podium. World Cup 2026 - all the info LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED! This year’s World Cup is like no other as a record-breaking 48 nations compete to lift football’s biggest prize. 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