The Cup’s been eluding them post 1966, but England’s banking on its dream squad

By Avinash Kr Atish

New Delhi, Nov 19 (SocialNews.XYZ) Among all other big teams, England are also one of the favourites to win the FIFA World Cup 2022 beginning Sunday in Qatar and they have the opportunity to fulfil the dreams of their fans, who have been waiting for the prestigious trophy since 1966.

There is no doubt the Three Lions have one of the best squads in international football, with excellent players -- Harry Kane, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford -- in every position.

The side led by Kane (29) has all the necessary ingredients to beat all the teams but it will be interesting to see how coach Gareth Southgate utilises these assets in the tournament. The skipper feels England need to believe that they can win that coveted trophy in the Middle East.

"We have to believe we can win it. I look back at England 10, 15 years ago and it was almost [like] we were scared to say we wanted to win it. I think one of the big shifts that we've made over the last four or five years with Gareth is not being afraid to say that," Kane told Sky Sports.

"Look, we're going to this tournament to win it because we believe we can. It'd be wrong to think otherwise. What's the point of going to a World Cup and not believing that you can bring the trophy home?

"It's going to be tough and we're going to have to work extremely hard, have a little bit of luck and have a lot of things go our way to achieve that. But I think it's important not to be afraid to say that that's what we're going there to do," he added.

Having reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and finishing as runners-up at last year's European Championships, Group B should hold no fears for England, with the USA, Iran and Wales their opponents. In the round of 16, the strongest side they can face are the Netherlands, while there is a good chance of a quarter-final meeting with Argentina or France if England top the group.

Also, England may not have won a World Cup since 1966, but they have since provided two Golden Boot winners in Gary Lineker (Mexico 1986) and Harry Kane (Russia 2018).

Tottenham Hotspur striker Kane has been in brilliant form for his club with 12 goals in the Premier League this season. He is also on course to become England's record goalscorer, with 51 goals in just 75 appearances to his name -- just two short of Wayne Rooney's mark of 53 in 120 matches -- and could feasibly go on to break the record in Qatar.

England have arrived in Qatar for the World Cup and are preparing for their opening match of the tournament against Iran on Monday. However, they are on a six-match winless streak after losing to Italy and drawing with Germany in the Uefa Nations League during the recent international break.

But, Kane believes their poor form has helped to lower expectations going into the mega event.

"Of course it hasn't been the greatest period in a long time for England. Since Gareth took charge - we haven't had a spell like we've had. But in a way before a major tournament that can be a really good thing because it allows you not to be carried away, or even the media or the press to get carried away,'' he said.

"I feel like if we won every game leading up to this tournament it would've been, 'We're guaranteed to win it' and 'We're going to win it', and that can come with a different pressure.

"We feel like being judged on major tournaments is the main thing and the last two we've had have been good. We have a good confidence within ourselves that we can go and have a great tournament in Qatar," he added.

Notably, England have performed well at recent major tournaments under Southgate, reaching the last four of the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Nations League, plus the final of Euro 2020.

But, English fans would want their team to move one step ahead, emulate the heroes who won the competition back in 1966 and get their hands on the World Cup trophy once again.

Source: IANS