Thomas Tuchel is managing in his first major tournament as England manager. Thomas Tuchel has revealed that his team will follow Gareth Southgate's penalty shootout blueprint at the World Cup. Tuchel's side face DR Congo in their first knockout game of the tournament on Wednesday, a scenario that opens up the potential for a penalty shootout.

The match from Atlanta at 17:00 BST is live on BBC One and the iPlayer. Prior to Southgate's appointment as England manager in 2016, the national team had a poor record in tournament shootouts - winning just one of seven. But under Southgate, England took their penalty preparations to a new level which resulted in the team winning three out of four shootouts.

Tuchel had confirmed the team would continue with the processes established by Southgate. "The FA has a programme that has been in place for years and we follow the programme," Tuchel said. "We are prepared. We have a process, the players have a process."

Tuchel said in the past he has been left unprepared for shootouts, admitting that in 2016 he "forgot" to prepare for the possibility when his Borussia Dortmund side faced Bayern Munich in the DFB Pokal final. Bayern won 4-3 on penalties, after the match had finished 0-0, with Tuchel having to select the order of his spot-kick takers in the short period after extra-time and before the shootout started.

"A very painful experience and a big, big scar on me, because I felt really, really badly that I had let myself down, so it was the first time. It will never happen again," he said.

Tuchel also added a note of caution, while saying he knows the order of who will be taking penalties should it happen. "It is difficult to simulate the situation [of a penalty shootout]," he said. "I heard Thierry Henry say he can't remember the walk from the halfway line to the penalty spot in his first penalty shootout for France - you cannot train that."

Right-backs Quansah and James are out of the DR Congo game. Southgate's meticulous planning saw a philosophy that was based on the belief that penalties were not a lottery and that clarity and preparation were key.

The team practiced penalties regularly and sought to replicate, as far as possible, the actual experience in training to help the process become more driven by muscle memory. Southgate decided the penalty takers well in advance based on the training, and he strove publicly to take full accountability to take any blame away from his players.

He also assigned each player taking a penalty a "buddy" to greet them at the halfway line after the long walk back. This was designed to share the pressure. Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also had shootout notes from detailed research of the opponents' likely approach written on his water bottle.

In the Euro 2020 loss, Southgate brought on Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho with seconds to spare for penalties. After that he felt that this didn't allow them enough time to be part of it, so he adjusted the approach to give penalty takers more time on the pitch beforehand.

England contested 11 penalty shootouts at the World Cup, Euros, and Nations League in their history. Before Southgate took charge, the only success was against Spain at Euro 96.

While Tuchel warned fans should not expect a "glamorous performance" against DR Congo, he opened up on his own personal doubts. Speaking about how some England's players will be carrying the "scars" of previous World Cup disappointments into this tournament, Tuchel admitted he questioned himself after a lacklustre display against New Zealand in a World Cup warm-up game.

"Even if you have scars, it is just the way it is," he said. "There is no way you get through this without. We all had our losses. We all had our big defeats where you doubt yourself.

"Ask me how I felt after our 1-0 against New Zealand. I still remember thinking: 'Am I good enough, am I good enough? Did I get this right? OK, let's keep on'. It's just the way it is. It is just normal, but you accept it. And if you want to win a big prize, there is not an easy route to get there."

Tuchel's side won Group L with wins over Croatia and Panama and a goalless draw against Ghana in between. The German expects them to play better against better teams in the latter stages of the tournament.

"I think this is not the moment now to shine and to expect glamorous performances. This is the moment to go through, to get the job done, to step up, to show individual quality and little moments," Tuchel told BBC Sport.