Revisiting England’s 2026 World Cup predicted XI from five years ago | OneFootball

Following Euro 2020, FourFourTwo tried to predict what the England XI would look like at the 2026 World Cup and it’s a bit of a mixed bag.

Things can rapidly change in the world of football as players can rapidly decline or youngsters can emerge from nowhere. For that reason, it’s no easy feat to predict a World Cup XI, especially four years before the tournament.

We’ve revisited FourFourTwo’s predicted XI on the day England’s squad for the 2026 finals is announced.

GK: Dean Henderson

While the Crystal Palace shot-stopper has firmly established himself as England’s number two, it seems unlikely that he’ll be starting at the 2026 World Cup.

At the end of every international tournament, fans and pundits always seem to predict that it’ll be Jordan Pickford’s last, but he always seems to prove the doubters wrong.

Henderson is on the plane to North America, but a spot in the starting XI seems like a long shot.

FourFourTwo also gave outside shouts to Freddie Woodman, Josef Bursik and Etienne Green – none of whom have ever played for England.

RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold

It says a lot about the discourse around Alexander-Arnold that his omission from England’s World Cup squad has been uncontroversial.

The full-back has struggled to impress at Real Madrid since leaving Liverpool and Thomas Tuchel has rarely indulged him.

“I think Trent is a player who needs to feel trust and love from his manager and team-mates and from his club, his country and the fans. He needs that,” Tuchel said last August.

“Reece is at the moment slightly ahead in this position, given what he did for us in the last two camps and how he played the CWC with Chelsea.

“And then we went for Tino Livramento because of the rhythm that he has and he gives us the option to cover both sides.”

CB: Ben White

The Arsenal defender was recalled to the England set-up in March after his bust-up with former assistant Steve Holland in 2022.

He scored in the 1-1 draw against Uruguay, but an injury has ruled him out of contention for the World Cup.

CB: Marc Guehi

This is the first prediction that FourFourTwo nailed in our opinion.

“The defender is exactly the kind of quiet leader who could grow into a role in an international backline over the next decade,” is how FourFourTwo described the Palace defender back in 2021.

Fast forward to 2025 and it’s safe to say that Guehi will almost definitely have a huge role to play for England at the tournament next year.

LB: Ryan Sessegnon

After breaking through at Fulham and making a lucrative move to Spurs, much was expected of Sessegnon during his formative years.

While his career didn’t quite take off as some had predicted, there’s always the chance of a late-career renaissance.

CM: Declan Rice

Rice’s inclusion in this squad shouldn’t come as a massive surprise.

He played a key role for England during Euro 2020 and he’s only got better since then.

FourFourTwo also namechecked Conor Gallagher, Morgan Gibbs-White, Lewis Cook, Kalvin Phillips and James Ward-Prowse in their article as potential options, but thankfully didn’t select them ahead of Rice.

CM: Jude Bellingham

This one was the banker.

After making such an impression at Euro 2020, virtually everyone predicted the Birmingham-born midfielder to become a mainstay in the England squad.

He’s since gone on to make 46 appearances for England and will no doubt have a key role to play at the World Cup.

RW: Bukayo Saka

FourFourTwo namechecked Jadon Sancho and Callum Hudson-Odoi as Saka’s main competition on the right-hand side, but thankfully went with the Arsenal star.

The 24-year-old has made the right-wing spot his own over the past few years and will definitely be in Tuchel’s starting XI this summer.

CAM: Phil Foden

Foden hasn’t been included in England’s World Cup squad – and we called this back in March.

LW: Mason Mount

Mount had the world at his fingertips back in 2021, but he’s endured a rocky spell since then.

His move to Man United has been disrupted by various injuries and he’s not played for England since 2022.

ST: Mason Greenwood

Never underestimate Harry Kane.

Recognising that Kane would be 33 by the time the 2026 World Cup rolled around, FourFourTwo thought that he’d be surpassed as England’s starting striker.

Given he’s scored more goals than any other player during 2025-26, we can almost guarantee that he’ll be starting the opening game against Croatia.

In the case of Greenwood, he’s not been considered for international duty since January 2022.