It is 103 days since Harry Kane sent his penalty sailing over the bar at Al Bayt Stadium, but the World Cup already feels like a more distant dream.
As England return to action against Italy here in Naples on Thursday and begin qualification for the 2024 European Championship, it is almost as if the mid-season tournament never really happened.
England’s run to the quarter-final and eventual defeat by France felt simultaneously like progress and par, Gareth Southgate’s side going toe-to-toe with one of the game’s international superpowers but still coming up short against their first heavyweight opponents.
As England begin a new cycle, which should end in Germany in 18 months’ time, very little has changed since the World Cup. Despite considering his future after the France game, Southgate is still in charge, and opinions about the England boss are now surely calcified across the country, and unlikely to dramatically shift.
And his 25-man squad for Thursday’s game and the qualifier against Ukraine at Wembley on Sunday is barely altered. Chelsea full-backs Reece James and Ben Chilwell are fit again, and Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is back as the fourth-choice centre-half.
The midfield seven is identical, although the rotating cast of understudies to Kane has changed again, with Brentford’s Ivan Toney replacing Callum Wilson. Southgate might have been more ambitious in refreshing his squad with young players in his thinking for the Euros had England not begun qualifying with their toughest two assignments on paper.
“You’re always looking at young players and when is the right moment to not just to start a couple of games, but for them to become a fixture in the team,” the manager said. “You never want a team to hit the moment where the whole thing needs refreshing, and we have tried to constantly give people their opportunity when ready.
“That happened again with Jude [Bellingham] and we have got one or two others on the fringes we are hoping to give that opportunity to in the coming 12 months.”
For the time being, Southgate therefore starts the new cycle with many of the same questions that hung over the last one. As well as they played against France, there is still doubt over England’s ability to control the midfield and their lack of an Antoine Griezmann-type to run big games.
The centre of defence remains an issue, with Harry Maguire struggling for minutes at Manchester United and England’s weakness in the area exposed by Olivier Giroud’s winner on December 10. In the forward line, Southgate can count on a host of players in fine form but is no closer to finding the perfect balance either side of Kane.
But while England may still be searching for solutions to this list of historic questions, there is strength in continuity. Tonight’s opponents are something of an unknown quantity after missing out on qualification for Qatar, while Spain, Portugal and Belgium are starting again with new coaches. France remain an ominous constant, but even they have undergone a significant upheaval after the retirement of their captain and most-capped player, Hugo Lloris.
“Always after a tournament there are a lot of changes of managers and coaches, so people are starting again, but the big nations will always be the big nations,” Southgate said. “Italy still qualified from our Nations League group, that was a tough group, they had a look at a lot of players, as we all did, and they managed to get the results that won them the group. They’ve still got Jorginho, [Marco] Verratti, players of immense experience and quality, and we’ve got to be at our best to be able to win here.”
Given Southgate nearly quit after the World Cup, the Euros is widely considered to be his last hurrah, although he hinted last night he could stay on, provided England win the tournament.
In a way, another meeting with Italy is the perfect way for Southgate’s England to start afresh, a chance to make more history with a landmark win and finally earn a measure of revenge for the last Euros final.
“It’s the sort of challenge we’ve got to start to take on and the type of game we’ve got to start winning,” Southgate said. “We haven’t won here since 1961, it’s a great bit of history we have to knock down. It will be a great challenge and we have knocked down those barriers in the past. It’s going to be a fabulous game.”
