I cannot talk about the World Cup without mentioning England.
They invented the modern football game, or at least wrote down the sport's official rules, in London in 1863.
The English also invented rugby, cricket, tennis, table tennis, hockey and a host of other sports.
But despite formulating the most popular game on the planet, England did not see it fit to play in the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
They also declined to feature in the 1934 and 1938 World Cups, considering the tournament inferior despite the best of the rest of the world participating.
A Football Association committee member, Charles Sutcliffe, is said to have even called the World Cup “a joke”, when Fifa offered them automatic berths in the 1934 finals in Italy.
Favourites to win the title
In fact, England played in their first World Cup in 1950 and it took “the best football playing nation in the world” 16 years to win their first and only World Cup title in 1966 when they hosted the tournament.
But as has been the case in every tournament since, England have been considered firm favourites to win the title. That endorsement has never materialized into the real thing.
The Three Lions' best showings since their mighty roar at Wembley in 1966 were semi-final appearances in Italy 1990 and Russia 2018 -- losing 3-1 on penalty kicks to Germany at Stadio delle Alpi in Turin, and 2-1 to Croatia at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
I personally feel for the English camp in every World Cup final. The nation and the critical media exert overbearing pressure on them to, not only play well at the global football show, but to win the damn trophy.
England are actually considered the third favourites after France and Spain. I feel slighted that the big two South American nations have not made the top three, but that is another story altogether.
The Three Lions qualified for the 2026 finals with a perfect record of eight played, eight won in the European qualifying matches. More impressively, England scored 22 goals without conceding a single goal.
They are ranked fourth in the world after France, Spain and Argentina.
Tuchel's picks and omissions
Small wonder Thomas Tuchel's selection attracted heated debate in England with several prominent voices questioning some of his picks and omissions.
Missing out were such talents as Man City’s Phil Foden, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, and Real Madrid’s Trent Alexander-Arnold. The tried and trusted giant central defender Harry Maguire, with 11 World Cup matches under his belt, also missed out.
Former England player John Terry’s tore at Tuchel’s selection in a Facebook post: “This isn’t just a bad call — it’s a shocking one that disrespects form, talent, and what this national team should stand for.”
Tuchel studiously explained that it was not about selecting the best talented 25 players, but finding a balance.
I like this German coach. Like Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari of another World Cup era, he does not bend to the popular mood, and damn the critical media.
Tuchel should get on with his job. Should he flop, the press and the pundits will flay him to high heaven.
Should he succeed, he will silence, especially the former players turned commentators, who have become such heavy critics of the team and players, and end their 60-year-long wait for the second world title.
