FIFA World Cup 2026: England Tournament Thread [R]

Most teams only have a couple of world class players, at least at the top end.

 

Apparantly he his so unpopular that some fans want England to switch to an untested back tree, just to avoid having him in the team

 

The only thing I can remember Jamie Carragher doing in an England shirt was taking a penalty in a shootout before the ref blew the whistle. Then when he had to take it for real, it was an easy save for the keeper.

 

Wouldn't be surprised if he missed on purpose just to get back to his beloved Liverpool

 

Yes there is often a misunderstanding between generations as to what world class means.
It has become a barometer to say someone is really good or past this imaginary bar and its is overused but older folk know that world class always meant that you could get into the world 11 A or B team. Meaning you are top two in your position at a given time.

Now some players hit a world class level for a period then drop off and they still carry the monitor of world class and fair enough but it is conceivable to have a really strong squad with no world class players. Like Arsenal hardly has World Class players. Probably only Saliba and Gabriel are in that category.

Kane has certainly reached a world class level . The other is Bellingham who was playing at a world class level a season or two ago and maybe dropped slightly down the ranking this season.

 

Thomas Tuchel has mentioned a couple of times how England have been helped by “Team GB” on handling World Cup heat.

Team GB were a bit perplexed by this! Believe Tuchel was referring to FA’s work with a performance consultant who has helped Team GB prep for Olympics in the past

— Lawrence Ostlere (@lawrenceostlere) June 10, 2026

 

I agree but I also think there's a third in Reece James. I think he's world-class by any meaningful definition of the term. He'd be England's greatest full-back of all-time if not for injuries imo.

 

For me world class is would they get into a world 11. Kane 100 percent. Bellingham probably. Rice probably. James probably. Then you are talking about players like Guehi Anderson who would potentially in the future get in

 

Too narrow for me. That'd mean there are only 11 world-class players at any one time.

 

Do you genuinely think the worlds best eleven would have at least four English players?

 

World XI?

1. Courtois
2. Hakimi
3. N Mendes
4. Saliba
5. Marquinhos
6. Kvaratskhelia
7. Vitinha
8. Rice
9. Yamal
10. Kane
11. Haaland

At a guess? It's quite a wide selection though in terms of countries. 4-4-2 to accomodate the front 2.

 

It's ridiculous. I remember him saying a few months back that his midfield picks for the World Cup would be Rice, Anderson, Mainoo and Henderson and that's exactly what he's got. Why's he now saying this?

I actually agree with him that the midfield fatiguing throughout the tournament is going to be a big part of our undoing but he's talking about it like it was an inevitable reality that couldn't have been mitigated. We've left some of our best possession midfielders at home for goodness' sake. This was entirely avoidable.

 

🤖⁉️ Según la supercomputadora de OLÉ (PredictIA), que simuló 250.000 veces el Mundial y ya está disponible en nuestra web, INGLATERRA es la selección con MÁS CHANCES de ser campeona del mundo en 2026 🏆🌎🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

1⃣🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Inglaterra (15,06%)
2⃣🇫🇷 Francia (13,38%)
3⃣🇦🇷 Argentina (10,63%)… pic.twitter.com/YQHE0xYtTH

— Diario Olé (@DiarioOle) June 10, 2026

Big fan of Argentinian supercomputers - always thought they were much better than British supercomputers.

 

********in shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

All 4 could get in but then again you could say the same about France Spain Portugal etc

 

Sorry horris that was aimed at Catenaccio

 

Nice to see something good coming out from Argentina, for once

 

See above

 

The Worlds best 11 is often a lot more transparent than people think. World Class is a different definition though and more room for debate if a player is world class.

 

I don't see how thats even possible with the possible route we have to the final.

 

World class players don’t always make the difference

if a team is set up properly and plays to their strengths, they should win the majority of games

in game management makes a huge difference these days

 

Did he say international class or world class? Surely anybody that pulls on an international shirt are international class?

 

Any clues on the team for tonight?