Opinion: England keep winning, so why doesn’t this World Cup feel special?

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·6 July 2026

Opinion: England keep winning, so why doesn’t this World Cup feel special?

England have made a perfect start to the knockout stages under Thomas Tuchel and are now just three wins away from lifting the World Cup.

While many supporters are enjoying watching the Three Lions progress, regular contributor Liam Harding believes this tournament hasn’t quite captured the same magic as previous editions. Here’s his take.

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England are winning, but the timing hasn’t helped

It’s great to see England win all of their 2026 World Cup games, apart from the 0-0 draw with Ghana in the group stage, but I’ve really struggled to get into this tournament.

Half of England’s games have kicked off at 9pm, and of course the latest one started at 1am, which hasn’t happened for a while when supporting the Three Lions.

The only game on at a more reasonable time (5pm) was the hard-fought 2-1 Round of 32 victory over DR Congo. England really had to battle for that win, with Harry Kane rescuing the side by scoring both the equaliser and the winner, the latter a superb close-range finish. That was one I did manage to watch!

It still doesn’t feel like a classic World Cup

I’m not sure if others can relate to this, but it hasn’t felt like we’ve had a true World Cup since 2018, when England reached the semi-finals before suffering a 2-1 defeat to eventual finalists Croatia.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar took place during the winter months, which felt strange as it had never happened before. Despite the nation fully supporting Gareth Southgate’s side, the atmosphere just felt different, with harsh weather conditions across the UK, including snowfall in some areas.

On top of that, England failed to get beyond the Round of 16, losing 2-1 to France. The French outplayed the men in red and white on the day, with former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud scoring the decisive goal for the eventual runners-up.

If it wasn’t for the late kick-off times at the current World Cup, I think it would be a superb tournament. England are playing some excellent attacking football under Thomas Tuchel, and between Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane they have already scored nine goals.

Hopefully they can continue that goalscoring form against Norway in the quarter-finals.

Six Gunners reach the World Cup quarter-finals as Spain and Belgium await

Come on England!!!

Liam Harding

What do you make of Liam’s thoughts? Have you found it harder to enjoy this World Cup because of the kick-off times, or has England’s run kept you fully engaged? Let us know in the comments below. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ ADMIN COMMENT

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