It has been a wild goose chase for England in World Cups since their only triumph in 1966 at home. To add another star above the Three Lions on their shirts in Russia, England first need to contend with the challenge of Belgium, Tunisia, and tournament debutantes Panama in Group G.
England, on paper at least, should qualify for the round of 16 along with Belgium, but the problem for the English supporters, however, is that their team rarely follow the script.
England lack the personnel to make a serious enough challenge for glory but they do have the team to do better than in 2014 when they crashed out from the first round. Manager Gareth Southgate has been brave with his team selection and has rightfully left out Joe Hart and Jack Wilshere.
Jack Butland is likely to pip Jordan Pickford for the No. 1 role but England lack the quality of recent years in central defence. Southgate has played with three men at the back; Gary Cahill, Harry Maguire, and Kyle Walker are likely to be the starters with John Stones and Phil Jones on the bench. Stones has lost his starting spot at Manchester City, Jones has been underwhelming while Cahill appears to be in decline.
Teams willing to have a go at the English defence will have plenty to celebrate.
Despite a soft defensive core, England have quality in full-back positions with Trent Alexander-Arnold—who is coming off the back of a hugely impressive debut season at Liverpool—Kieran Trippier, Danny Rose, and Ashley Young to choose from.
Jordan Henderson and Eric Dier will sit in front of the defence. While the former will have the license to forage forward, the latter’s main task would be to disrupt opposition attacks. Dele Alli will play in attacking midfield and Raheem Sterling will look to feed the striker and team captain Harry Kane from the right wing.
England’s biggest challenge in the group will come from Belgium’s “golden generation”. The Red Devils are well endowed in all areas of the pitch and should be serious contenders to go deep into the tournament but for serious question marks about the managerial abilities of Roberto Martinez.
The former Everton boss has inexplicably left out Radja Nainggolan from his preliminary squad, reasoning that he cannot give the midfielder the role he thrives in at Roma. It is a staggering assessment of a player whose versatility is a big asset, and was a central figure in an excellent Roma campaign last season.
Martinez was never hailed as a tactical mastermind during his managerial reign at the club level and it is widely acknowledged that Belgium could have done way better to facilitate their golden generation in their quest for international glory than to give the job to the Spaniard.
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