Gen Z leads pride in England ahead of first World Cup game for Harry Kane's team against Croatia | OneFootball

Half of English adults say they are proud of the men’s national team, rising to 59% for Gen Z, according to a poll by More in Common

Harry Kane’s England team is being backed by a groundswell of support from Gen Z ahead of its first World Cup game, according to a new poll.

Half of English adults say they are proud of the men’s national team, rising to 59 per cent for Gen Z, which usually refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.

Gen Z was followed by millennials on 52 per cent, Gen X on 46 per cent and 48 per cent of both Boomers and over-75s.

The findings in a survey by More in Common come ahead of England kicking off their World Cup campaign with the game on Wednesday night against Croatia at the Dallas Stadium, Arlington, on the outskirts of Dallas, Texas.

England captain Harry Kane

Getty Images

In a sign of decades of fierce footballing rivalry, 28 per cent of Scot say they would want England to lose if Scotland are knocked out of the World Cup first.

Scotland will face Morocco on Friday after clinching a 1-0 win against Haiti last week in their first World Cup fixture since 1998.

The tournament is being staged in America, Mexico and Canada.

Anna Sabine MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for culture, media and sport, said it was “particularly heartening to see young people leading the way in pride for their national teams”.

She added: “Sport has an amazing ability to unite all communities and nations.

Scottish band Skerryvore play for fans at the World Cup

PA Wire

“We should all be immensely proud of our national teams and we are all ready to cheer them on.”

In England, 73 per cent of Labour voters said they took “a great deal” or “quite a lot of pride” in the Three Lions followed by 67 per cent of Tory voters, 57 per cent of Reform UK voters, 49 per cent of Lib Dems and 30 per cent of Greens, the pollster said.

A third (33 per cent) of Reform supporters took “a great deal of pride” versus 32 per cent for Labour, 26 per cent for Conservatives, 21 per cent for Lib Dem and 14 per cent for Greens.

Across Britain, 49 per cent said they supported local authorities funding or organising public screenings of major sporting events like the World Cup against just 22 per cent opposed, a net score of +27.

* The findings are based on a sample size of 2,087 people surveyed between June 5 and 9 this year.