After the EM final trauma of 2021, England wants to reach for a big title again in Qatar. The “Three Lions” are among the favorites – mainly thanks to one man: Captain Harry Kane.
The trainer
Led in July 2021 Gareth Southgate (52) took the English national team to the final of the European Championship, which they lost to Italy on penalties. A bright future was predicted for the talented team and their coach.
Southgate’s suitability as national coach is now being questioned. In the Nations League, the team suffered their heaviest home defeat in 94 years – 0-4 against Hungary. Southgate was booed. It was said that he wasn’t one for “crunch time”, that despite the many creative players, he let the game be boring. The tabloid “The Sun” even wrote that he had the tactical understanding of a lemon candy. The former defender is “good at some things – coaching a football team is not one of them”.
Under pressure in Qatar: England coach Gareth Southgate
At least outwardly, Southgate remains undeterred. “I think I’m the right person to lead the team into the tournament.” In the summer he recalled Sir Bobby Robson, who had been ridiculed ahead of the 1990 World Cup and eventually coached the Three Lions to the semi-finals, where they narrowly lost to Germany. “I know where Sir Bobby had to go through at the time,” Southgate said. “In the end, I will be measured by tournament success.”
The star
England’s hopes rest on the captain Harry Kane. For years, the Tottenham Hotspur attacker has been one of the most accurate players in the Premier League. Quite a few experts considered him a one-hit wonder when he made his breakthrough in England’s top flight in the 2014/2015 season (34 games, 21 goals).
At the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he was top scorer with six goals. He scored 12 times in eight games in Qatar’s World Cup qualifiers. No one has been more successful in European qualifying (Memphis Depay also scored 12 goals for the Netherlands).
Overall, Kane has scored 51 goals for the Three Lions. The 29-year-old is just two goals behind Wayne Rooney, who holds the “all-time” record as the all-time leading goalscorer in England’s history. “His quota is phenomenal,” says team manager Gareth Southgate. But being dependent on Kane worries him.
Kane himself said in view of the relegation in the Nations League: “We’re not panicking”. The spectacular 3-3 win against the DFB-Elf at the end of September, when “the real England” turned a 0-2 draw into a 3-2 within twelve minutes, served as an encouragement. “We can go to the World Cup with a good feeling,” said the star striker.
Players to watch
England has a large number of highly talented players who, despite their young age, are among the defining figures at their clubs. midfield strategist Jude Bellingham for example, at 19, he is the leader in the Borussia Dortmund game. The 22-year-old winger Phil Foden from Manchester City is one of the top scorers in the Premier League Bukayo Saka, 21, from Arsenal. Saka has played a key role in the Gunners’ transition from rubble to title contenders. In the 2021 European Championship final, the winger missed the last penalty. After that he was repeatedly racially insulted. This season he is one of the best players in the league to watch out for in Qatar as well.
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The special
There will be a premiere right at the start of the World Cup finals, as there has never been an international match between England and Iran.
And unlike in the past 70 years, the English players, coaches and fans will no longer pay homage to Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September, but to King Charles III in their national anthem. In the Qatari stadiums it will not be “God save the Queen” but “God save the King” that will be heard.
The World Cup chances
On the occasion of the 1996 European Football Championship in England, the Lightning Seeds sang about the “30 years of hurt” for the first time in their now world-famous song “Three Lions”. It’s now 56 years of pain and given England’s poor form, it’s safe to assume there will be more years to come. As is so often the case, the team is filled with world-class players, but no matter how golden the generations have been, things have always gone wrong since 1966. “There are three problems with the Three Lions,” commented the Daily Mail after the recent Nations League relegation: “Defence, midfield and attack.”
But: England was in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and in the final of the 2021 European Championship. No other team has been able to do that. Southgate has proven he has the skills of a tournament manager. In this respect, England is one of the extended circle of favorites, as in every major tournament.