Kane and Tuchel react to Man City guilty verdict

Harry Kane said he only learned of Manchester City's guilty verdict once England's 2-0 win over Czech Republic in Prague had finished, having been "off my phone all day".

The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, hours before kick-off, that City had been found guilty on all charges relating to breaches of financial rules. An independent commission ruled that City "relied on sham agreements to artificially inflate the club's revenues and reduce its costs" between 2009 and 2018. City issued a statement maintaining their innocence, with an appeal expected before 2 October. The Premier League said sanctions, which could range from points deductions to expulsion from the division, will be addressed at a further hearing.

Two City players, Elliot Anderson and Marc Guehi, started for England in Prague within hours of the verdict. Kane, England's captain, said the matter had not come up in the camp.

"To be honest today I didn't even know the news literally until after the game. I've been off my phone all day. I can't comment on it now. I'm sure in the next days it will be spoken about in a casual way. I always say when we're here we're with England. We have our England head on and those guys will deal with it obviously when they are back. From our point of view it is all about Croatia on Saturday."

Thomas Tuchel gave a similar account, saying he had not raised the ruling with Anderson or Guehi before selecting them. "I have a bad conscience now," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I did not actually because I am just focused on everything we have to deal with here and to prepare the team. I did not talk to them about the issue and I will not comment on it. I think Marc today was absolutely excellent after a tough match against Spain. The reaction was on the highest level and Elliot Anderson had a good match as well."

Anthony Gordon put England ahead three minutes into the second half and Kane added the second on 69 minutes, England having gone down to ten men on the opposing side after Pavel Šulc was sent off in the 25th minute. England dominated possession, 68% to 32%, and had six shots on target to Czech Republic's two. The win keeps England top of their World Cup qualifying group on seven points from three matches, level with Spain, who also sit on seven. Croatia are second on six points from three games.

Tuchel confirmed the squad will stay in Prague overnight rather than fly home, before travelling on to Croatia for two training sessions ahead of Saturday's match. He said the squad would "push everyone to be available", including Nico O'Reilly, who missed the Czech Republic game through injury, and Ezri Konsa.

Full details of the Czech Republic v England match are on our match page: /en/football/event/czech-republic-england-2026-09-29_6935089/.

Should the Premier League commission impose heavy sanctions on City once the further hearing concludes, the questions Kane and Tuchel deflected in Prague are unlikely to stay confined to a casual chat once the squad returns to domestic duty.