England’s XI for World Cup glory – and answering the Harry Kane conundrum

Given Thomas Tuchel has 18 months to shape a team for the finals in North America – our experts assess his options and likely choices

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Thomas Tuchel takes charge of England from January 1 with one clear remit – to win the World Cup.
The German manager has avoided a Nations League promotion play-off and can concentrate on World Cup qualification when he takes charge, with interim manager Lee Carsley insisting the squad that reached the European Championship final last summer is now in better shape.
Carsley also believes the squad is strong enough to win the World Cup in 2026.
Can Tuchel finally get England over the line at a major tournament, 60 years on from the country’s finest hour in 1966? Who will Tuchel call upon at the tournament and is Harry Kane still the man to lead the line?
Telegraph Sport’s experts pick their potential starting XIs:
Left-back is Thomas Tuchel’s biggest headache heading into the World Cup, which is why I think he will try to mould Reece James into a makeshift option. James has played on the left this season for Chelsea, so it may be an option that develops between now and 2026. Kyle Walker will be 36 when the World Cup starts, but I predict Tuchel will lean on his experience and leadership. And will he drop Harry Kane? No way.
Trent Alexander-Arnold could solve England’s left-back problem, as he did against Finland – one of the options Lee Carsley created for Thomas Tuchel. He should spend most of the time “inverted” anyway and dictating play from central midfield. It is an attacking line-up but gets his best players into the team in a positive formation. Phil Foden is a big call but Tuchel needs to keep faith with him.
The big question marks are over Jordan Pickford and Harry Kane, who are already in their thirties. Is there anyone coming up through the ranks who can depose those two stalwarts of the national team? Ollie Watkins is the obvious alternative to Kane but, at 28, he is hardly an up-and-comer. Young Liam Delap is impressing at Ipswich Town but it would require a remarkable turn of events for him to be threatening Kane by the summer of 2026. At the back, Lewis Hall looks to be the best of the young left-backs and Levi Colwill is in the process of establishing himself as one of the Premier League’s most reliable left-sided central defenders.
Loads of ifs, buts and maybes here and, in reality, this team would probably be less than the sum of their considerable parts. It will be on Thomas Tuchel to determine if he can realistically shoehorn Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer and Phil Foden into the same team or if it needs to be two of the three. Declan Rice needs a natural No 6 alongside him so maybe an Adam Wharton-type steps forward and England have to have a left-footer at left-back. Luke Shaw, if fit, is still the best option there, but Tuchel will hope a solution materialises in one of his problem positions over the course of the next 19 months. Harry Kane, at centre-forward, is probably a call to make in time. For now, he is still England’s best striker.
Horrible memories of the evergreen virality of The Sun’s 2007 attempt to pick the England team of the future, which included Michael Johnson, Dean Parrett and several others who sank without trace. Nevertheless, assuming Thomas Tuchel uses a 4-2-3-1 formation, which he has for much of his career, I would expect some age-related changes in defence and an attempt to find the feted balance by going with function over celebrity further forward, leaving Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka and Cole Palmer as ridiculously strong options off the bench. Harry Kane’s status is the big question mark, but I would lean towards him still starting by the time England kick off against Uzbekistan in the punishing heat of Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
Lee Carsley has told England’s incoming manager Thomas Tuchel he is inheriting a squad capable of winning the World Cup in 2026.
Tuchel officially starts work as England manager on January 1 on a win-or-bust 18-month contract. Interim manager Carsley will attempt to meet Tuchel before then but ahead of his debrief, the German has been told he will receive a squad that can win the World Cup for England for the first time since 1966.
“It is fair to say the challenges will be more difficult in the 18 months, in terms of if we are going to win the World Cup. We have shown we can do it,” said Carsley.
“I think we are in a good position to do that. I think we have the talent to do it. I have been lucky now to be at the last couple of World Cups and the timing of the players being in form, physically and mentally, at the right time, picking the right squad. We have got all of the tools. We just need to play them in the [right] order.”
Carsley will do his best to help Tuchel make a fast start to life as England manager by arming him with as much information as possible from his three camps as interim manager.
Asked if he will try to meet with Tuchel before January 1, Carsley said: “Definitely. I think the sooner the better. I think it’s important first though that we debrief properly, the three camps rather than being a bit reactive just on results. It’s the whole experience. We will collate our thoughts together, along with the rest of the players in terms of handing over something he can read and look through that’s valuable. And then we’ll step back to support him.”
Tuchel was given a reminder over the depth of talent that will be available to him during Carsley’s final two games in charge against Greece and Republic of Ireland, which England won despite 10 players withdrawing from international duty.
But Carsley warned of the challenges of trying to squeeze in all of England’s best players, which backfired when he tried to do it in the home defeat by Greece in October.
“I think there’s competition for places,” said Carsley. “I think the best chance of us winning is, if we can, find a place [for our best players]. You saw the Greece game at home, I tried that. So it is a challenge. It needs work. The one thing you don’t get with the international camps is time. So we just have to find that balance.
“A lot of the international coaches at that Uefa thing I went to, the debrief of the tournaments said ‘you’ve got a lot of good players’ as if that’s a negative thing. If they’re all in form at exactly the same time then it’s a challenge, but players do come in and out of form and it’s putting them in the team when they’re flying and resting them when they’re not.”
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