England’s new boss Thomas Tuchel was in Zurich yesterday as the Three Lions discovered their World Cup qualifying opponents – and he couldn’t have been disappointed.
After reaching the final of the Euros this summer, England will be heavy favourites to qualify for the World Cup with ease, after being drawn into a group with Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra.
Serbia were their first opponents at the Euros, when Jude Bellingham netted the only goal to give the Three Lions victory.
A talented squad
England never totally clicked into gear in Germany this summer, but Shaun Wright-Phillips believes they have more than enough talent in their squad to be serious contenders to win the 2026 World Cup.
With the likes of Bellingham, Harry Kane, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden at their disposal, plus the ever improving Cole Palmer, the former Three Lions winger thinks they should be confident.
“I think we have the players to do it,” he said, speaking on behalf of casino.org. “The big thing will be getting that front four to play as they do at club level.
“It's something we’ve talked about with England for many years, and it will be interesting to see Tuchel’s first team selection.
“Will he pick Jude Bellingham at number 10, or will he play him alongside Declan Rice and give the 10 to Jack Grealish, Phil Foden or Cole Palmer? That’s arguably the biggest call Tuchel will need to make.”
The England job has previously been called the impossible job, but Wright-Phillips thinks it’s not far off impossible to do a bad job with the Three Lions these days, given the players available.
“I always say to my friends, it’s such a hard role,” he said. “It’s equally tough though to do a bad job there, because of the amount of talent available and the pool of players, with so many team and individual achievements for their clubs.”
