World Championship-2026. Representation of the England team

Already this summer, the biggest world championship in the history of football will start in the USA, Canada and Mexico. For the first time, the World Cup will be held with the participation of 48 national teams, and the tournament promises to present even more top posters, dramatic plots and historical moments. As part of the cycle of materials about the participants of the 2026 World Cup, today we are talking about one of the main football nations of the planet — England. The team, which every year is among the favorites of major tournaments with the traditional slogans about "Football's coming home", but last won the World Cup back in 1966. After the Gareth Southgate era, England continue their new cycle under Thomas Tuchel, a coach with vast club experience and a reputation as a specialist who can build teams to win in the here and now. And it seems that the English generation approached the WC-2026 in the most mature and balanced state. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP-2026. COMPOSITION OF GROUP L ENGLAND ON THE WAY TO THE 2026 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP The selection for the British went almost flawlessly. Eight matches — eight wins, not a single conceded goal and a confident first place in their group. Yes, not all the victories were spectacular - the minimal victory over Andorra caused a lot of criticism, but every month Tuchel's team looked more and more convincing. It culminated in a crushing 5-0 win over Serbia in September 2025. It is especially important that England did not just get the necessary result, but gradually adapted to the new requirements of the head coach. If at the start of Tuchel's work, the star team looked shaky, then already in the autumn it started to demonstrate much more aggressive, intense and modern football. HISTORY OF PERFORMANCES AT THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS For England, the theme of the World Cup is a constant balancing act between huge expectations and painful disappointments. The only victory at the World Cup happened back in 1966, when England beat West Germany at home in the final with a score of 4:2 after overtime at the legendary Wembley. What followed were decades of instability, failure and missed opportunities. Dramatic series of penalty kicks, which haunted the English at major tournaments for many years, became especially symbolic. Whatever the criticism, it was only under Gareth Southgate that the national team became truly competitive again on the world stage. The semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and two consecutive Euro finals have shown that England have returned to the elite of international football. But the main problem remains the same: when it comes to crucial matches against top opponents, the English have always lacked something so far. HEAD COACH: THOMAS TUCHEL The appointment of Thomas Tuchel in the autumn of 2024 has become one of the most high-profile decisions of the English Football Association in recent years. After the cautious and pragmatic style of Southgate, the English got a coach with a completely different character. Tuchel is the most direct, emotional and demanding specialist who is not afraid to openly criticize even the team leaders. At the club level, the German has already proven his ability to win major tournaments. Victory in the Champions League with Chelsea, generally successful work with PSG and Bayern have made him one of the most authoritative coaches in Europe. Now the main question is whether he will have time and whether he will be able to finally transfer his club principles to the national team level, where there is much less time for training. So far, things are looking promising. The players understand Tuchel's demands better and better, and the coach himself is already openly talking about a possible contract extension after the World Cup. TEAM ENGLAND'S APPLICATION FOR THE 2026 WC Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), James Trafford (Manchester City). Defenders: Rhys James (Chelsea), Tino Livramento, Dan Burn (both Newcastle), Mark Gay, John Stones, Nico O'Reilly (all Manchester City), Ezri Konza (Aston Villa), Jarell Kwansa (Bayer, Germany), Jed Spence (Tottenham). Midfielders: Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke, Eberechi Eze (all - Arsenal), Elliott Anderson (Nottingham Forest), Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid, Spain), Jordan Henderson (Brentford), Morgan Rodgers (Aston Villa), Kobi Mainu (Manchester United). Forwards: Harry Kane (Bayern, Germany), Ivan Toney (Al-Ahly, Saudi Arabia), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa), Marcus Rashford (Barcelona, ​​Spain), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle). View this post on Instagram Post shared by media (@media.ua) HOW IS ENGLAND PLAYING? Tuchel wants to see England as intense and aggressive as possible without the ball. Its main idea is a fast press