"I just don't ever believe they'll win it." That's Max Rushen, host of the Guardian's Football Weekly podcast, summing up the England experience in one sentence. He immediately followed it with something more interesting though: "There is balance to this squad. There is a sense of purpose." For England fans, that combination is rarer than it sounds.
Thomas Tuchel's England arrive at the 2026 World Cup as one of the tournament's more intriguing sides — not favourites, not written off, but genuinely difficult to read. The German manager, appointed in 2025 after Gareth Southgate's eight-year reign ended, has won trophies at every club he's managed. Whether that translates to international football, with its condensed preparation windows and coalition-building dynamics, is the central question around this squad.
A squad built around youth — with a few deliberate exceptions
The most striking thing about England's roster isn't who Tuchel picked. It's who he left out. Phil Foden and Cole Palmer — two of the most-talked-about English talents of the past two years — are at home. Ivan Toney is in. Tuchel's message is clear: roles matter more than reputations.
With a few exceptions — Kane, now 32, being the obvious one — much of this starting lineup is 25 or younger. That cuts both ways. Youth brings energy and fewer entrenched habits. It also means less experience when a knockout match goes to penalties in the 120th minute and every decision matters.
Jude Bellingham is the one to watch. The 22-year-old Real Madrid midfielder hasn't been a Tuchel regular, which is strange given his profile. Dynamic, capable of playing as a false nine, and genuinely dangerous in tight spaces — if Bellingham clicks in this tournament, England's odds shift significantly. If he doesn't feature, that's a lot of quality sitting unused.
England's group stage path through the US
- June 17: England vs. Croatia — Dallas Stadium, 4 p.m.
- June 23: England vs. Ghana — Boston Stadium, 4 p.m.
- June 27: Panama vs. England — New York New Jersey Stadium, 5 p.m.
On paper, a manageable group. Croatia are past their 2018 peak. Ghana and Panama are beatable at this level. England should qualify — the question is in what shape and with what momentum. A team that scrapes through on six points looks very different in the knockouts than one that finds a rhythm early.
Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice are nailed-on starters alongside Kane. The centre-back pairing is less settled. England's defensive solidity will quietly determine how far they go — it always does.
The elephant in the room, of course, is 1966. Sixty years since England won the thing on home soil, and every squad since has carried that weight to varying degrees of dysfunction. Tuchel's nationality — German, of all things — has created its own strange subplot. Harry Redknapp called him a "German spy," then insisted it was a joke. Whether or not Tuchel wins the World Cup, he'll never fully escape that bit.
Declan Rice, asked how he knew he'd adjusted to the US summer heat, deadpanned that it was "when the sunburn went." At least they're relaxed about it.
