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England are one of the most prolific national teams when it comes to set-piece goals, but why is that?
In the opening game of the 2026 World Cup , we've already seen England bag two goals from set-pieces against Croatia .
Harry Kane's penalty (on the second attempt ) and then a thumping header from a corner proved the value of a well-worked set-piece routine.
England's set-piece coaches
Like many teams at club and international level, England are indeed benefiting from a specific set-piece coach.
Thomas Tuchel gets his assistant manager, Anthony Barry to oversee a lot of the set-piece work for the Three Lions.
However, he's not the only one looking into that specific side of the tactical game. Tuchel also brought in Paul Quilter as a dedicated set-piece coach.
Quilter previously worked at Chelsea as an analyst between 2011-2025 (with a short spell at Aldershot Town thrown in for good measure).
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It is there where Quilter met Tuchel and earned a reputation as a man he can trust with this big responsibility, so it's not surprising that he asked him to join him at international level.
Speaking to The Times , Tuchel acknowledged the work of Quilter and Barry, saying: "Full credit to my assistant coach and our set-piece coach."
In a press conference following his squad announcement for the tournament, he explained how set-pieces are a specific focus, adding: "We have specialists with us for all different scenarios.
"We always said we want to be a strong set-piece team so we have specialists for that."
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