GARY LINEKER BELIEVES England can be a contender for glory at the Qatar World Cup and can win a major tournament in the next decade.
Gareth Southgate’s side suffered a loss of form during the last Nations League campaign, denting some of the optimism created by a run to the final of Euro 2020, but Lineker said that would count for nothing come kick off in their opening fixture against Iran a week on Monday.
“England could go all the way,” Lineker told the PA news agency. “They’ve got the players. You need things to go your way and your best players to find their form and steer clear of injuries. It’s knockout football and you’ll end up playing a great team.
“It’s really, really hard to win and that’s why we haven’t won it for so long but there’s no question in my mind this England team will be competitive over the next 10-12 years and they’ll probably win a tournament in that time.
We’re now producing seriously good young footballers. Yes there was a dip in form in the last few games but that doesn’t really count…I’d take previous form with a pinch of salt. They’ve got a lot of good players and if they turn it on they can win it… We’re certainly one of the sides in contention. Not the out-and-out favourites but it’s hard to say if there is one.”
Lineker was excited by the 26-man squad named by Southgate on Thursday – particularly the inclusion of Leicester’s James Maddison – but felt AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori was unlucky to miss out, suggesting England were light in central defence.
With Roma’s Tammy Abraham also overlooked, Lineker questioned whether playing overseas had counted against them.
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“I’m only surmising but with players in the Premier League we see them all the time, we talk about them all the time,” the former Barcelona striker said. “Even if only subconsciously (playing abroad) might make a tiny difference which is a shame because it’s really great for players to play abroad, adapt to a different lifestyle and a different style of football.”
Tammy Abraham has missed out on a World Cup appearance (PA).
The 61-year-old has been reflecting on his own experiences in recent weeks while recording a new podcast, ‘How To Win A World Cup’, with former Spain and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas – a World Cup winner in 2010.
“It’s about his experience of winning it and my experience of not having won it,” joked Lineker, whose dreams were ended by Diego Maradona’s quarter-final ‘Hand of God’ goal in 1986 and a semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to Germany in 1990.
“It brought back so many memories and so many stories from behind the scenes,” Lineker said of recording the 14-episode series. “The two World Cups I played in were personally very successful and fairly successful as a team – we didn’t win it but we did ourselves proud.
“(In the podcast) we got into a lot of stories from the inner sanctum of the dressing room and team meetings.
“There was definitely a lot of emotion around the ‘Hand of God’ goal – the rage at the end from most of the guys in the dressing room, then to the dejection of losing a shoot-out four years later.
“I think the Germany game is the one thing looking back in my career where I think, ‘If only’. I know Bobby Robson felt the same, I did a documentary with him shortly before he passed away.
“There were other things like I could have beaten Bobby Charlton’s scoring record but this was different. If you win the World Cup that’s footballing immortality and we were so close to doing that.”
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‘England could go all the way’ – Gary Lineker optimistic ahead of World Cup
GARY LINEKER BELIEVES England can be a contender for glory at the Qatar World Cup and can win a major tournament in the next decade.
Gareth Southgate’s side suffered a loss of form during the last Nations League campaign, denting some of the optimism created by a run to the final of Euro 2020, but Lineker said that would count for nothing come kick off in their opening fixture against Iran a week on Monday.
“England could go all the way,” Lineker told the PA news agency. “They’ve got the players. You need things to go your way and your best players to find their form and steer clear of injuries. It’s knockout football and you’ll end up playing a great team.
Lineker was excited by the 26-man squad named by Southgate on Thursday – particularly the inclusion of Leicester’s James Maddison – but felt AC Milan defender Fikayo Tomori was unlucky to miss out, suggesting England were light in central defence.
With Roma’s Tammy Abraham also overlooked, Lineker questioned whether playing overseas had counted against them.
“I’m only surmising but with players in the Premier League we see them all the time, we talk about them all the time,” the former Barcelona striker said. “Even if only subconsciously (playing abroad) might make a tiny difference which is a shame because it’s really great for players to play abroad, adapt to a different lifestyle and a different style of football.”
The 61-year-old has been reflecting on his own experiences in recent weeks while recording a new podcast, ‘How To Win A World Cup’, with former Spain and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas – a World Cup winner in 2010.
“It’s about his experience of winning it and my experience of not having won it,” joked Lineker, whose dreams were ended by Diego Maradona’s quarter-final ‘Hand of God’ goal in 1986 and a semi-final penalty shoot-out loss to Germany in 1990.
“It brought back so many memories and so many stories from behind the scenes,” Lineker said of recording the 14-episode series. “The two World Cups I played in were personally very successful and fairly successful as a team – we didn’t win it but we did ourselves proud.
“(In the podcast) we got into a lot of stories from the inner sanctum of the dressing room and team meetings.
“There was definitely a lot of emotion around the ‘Hand of God’ goal – the rage at the end from most of the guys in the dressing room, then to the dejection of losing a shoot-out four years later.
“I think the Germany game is the one thing looking back in my career where I think, ‘If only’. I know Bobby Robson felt the same, I did a documentary with him shortly before he passed away.
“There were other things like I could have beaten Bobby Charlton’s scoring record but this was different. If you win the World Cup that’s footballing immortality and we were so close to doing that.”
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