"I just don't ever believe they'll win it." That's Max Rushen, host of the Guardian's Football Weekly podcast, on England's World Cup chances — and the brutal part is, he said it while conceding the squad actually looks decent. That tension right there is the England experience in a sentence.
Thomas Tuchel's side arrive at the 2026 World Cup carrying real credentials and an almost comically familiar psychological burden. Sixty years since 1966. A semifinal in 2018, a quarter-final exit in 2022, and a nation that's started preparing its heartbreak playlist approximately three tournaments in advance. And yet — this England team is genuinely constructed for a deep run.
A German coach, a young squad, and some pointed squad selection
Tuchel, appointed in 2025 after Gareth Southgate's eight-year tenure ended, has won silverware at every club he's managed. The World Cup is the obvious final entry on that CV. His nationality has generated more noise than it deserves — Harry Redknapp's "German spy" quip being the low point — but inside the camp, it hasn't been a problem. The squad looks organised, settled, and notably younger than recent England vintages. Most of the starting core is 25 or under.
The selection choices were the real talking point before a ball was kicked. Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, two of the Premier League's standout players, were left out. Ivan Toney was in. Tuchel's argument is that every player has a defined role in a specific system — and it's the kind of conviction that either looks visionary by the final or gets picked apart if England go out in the quarters again.
Jude Bellingham is the wildcard. The 22-year-old Real Madrid midfielder has barely been a fixture under Tuchel, which makes him the most interesting name in the squad. Dynamic, capable of operating as a false nine, and still searching for the kind of influential tournament run his talent suggests is coming. If he finds it here, England's odds shorten considerably. If he doesn't, the "what if" discourse will run for years.
The group stage and what comes next
England's route through the group stage:
- June 17: England vs. Croatia — 4 p.m. (Dallas)
- June 23: England vs. Ghana — 4 p.m. (Boston)
- June 27: Panama vs. England — 5 p.m. (New York/New Jersey)
Croatia are a fading force but still capable of making life uncomfortable. Ghana and Panama are navigable on paper. A smooth group stage — and a fully fit Harry Kane, now 32 and running out of World Cup windows — would set England up nicely for the knockouts, which is where Tuchel has clearly pointed everything.
Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice anchor the attack and midfield respectively, both in form for Arsenal. The centre-back questions aren't fully resolved. And Kane, for all the conversation about youth, remains the load-bearing column of the whole structure.
Rushen's full take lands somewhere accurate: "There is balance to this squad. There is a sense of purpose." Whether that's enough to end 60 years of World Cup failure is another matter entirely.
