I’ve watched England go into tournaments with hope before. Too many times. Watched the penalties miss, the undercooked performances against sides we should be battering, the early exits dressed up as heroic failures. As someone who’s endured years of Spurs, I know the difference between genuine quality and a mirage built on friendly results and tabloid optimism.
This time feels different. Not because I want it to. Because the evidence actually stacks up.
The 2026 World Cup in North America is three weeks away and England head there with something we’ve not had in decades: a squad that actually makes sense. Not just eleven good players and a prayer. Proper depth. Options that don’t make you wince when someone picks up a knock.
Look at what Southgate left behind. Say what you will about his in-game management, but he built a culture that wasn’t toxic. Players who actually wanted to turn up for England. A tournament mentality that got us to a final and two semi-finals. That matters. The new manager inherited a squad that knows how to handle pressure, knows how to get through knockout games without imploding. That’s not nothing.
But where Southgate was cautious to a fault, the current setup has added something we desperately needed: flexibility. The willingness to adapt within games. To trust the attacking players to actually attack. We’ve seen it in the qualifiers and the warm-up matches. When it’s not working, changes happen. Tactical tweaks that make sense rather than like-for-like substitutions in the 87th minute.
The depth is ridiculous compared to previous tournaments. Injuries happen. They always do. But we’re not one Harry Kane injury away from playing a winger up front and hoping for the best. The midfield has proper options beyond “give it to Rice and pray.” The defence actually has pace and the ability to play out under pressure without looking like they’re defusing a bomb.
That’s the biggest shift. We’ve got players comfortable on the ball in every position. No weak links where opposition press and we crumble. Watch City draw 3-3 with Everton last week and you see the technical level English players can reach. That quality is spread through this squad.
Here’s the reality check though. Wanting to win and actually winning are different things. France still have that tournament know-how. Brazil will be Brazil. Spain are building something properly structured again. This isn’t 1996 where we rock up and everyone’s scared. The competition is fierce and one bad performance gets you on a plane home.
The group stage should be navigable. Should be. But we’ve made hard work of easier situations before. The knockout rounds are where it matters and where patterns can’t save you. Individual moments decide games. Referee decisions you can’t control. The things that make international football both brilliant and maddening.
What I keep coming back to is this: if we don’t do it now, when? This squad won’t be together forever. Kane’s not getting younger. Some of these players are hitting their absolute peak right now. The draw could’ve been worse. The preparation’s been solid. The talent is undeniable.
I’m not getting carried away. I’ve seen too much for that. But I’m also not pretending this is the same old England going through the motions. There’s genuine quality here. Genuine tactical intelligence. A manager who trusts his players to express themselves rather than parking eleven behind the ball and hoping for a set piece.
The theatrics will still wind me up. Players rolling around like they’ve been shot when someone breathes near them. Time-wasting from the 70th minute onwards. All the stuff that’s crept into the modern game and made it less enjoyable to watch. But if England can stay disciplined, keep their heads when it matters, and take chances when they come, there’s a path here.
Will we take it? Ask me in six weeks. But for the first time in a long time, the optimism isn’t based on blind hope or media hype. It’s based on watching this team and seeing something that might actually be good enough. That’s a strange feeling for an England fan. Even stranger for a Spurs fan used to watching promise turn to dust.
I’m not predicting anything. Not claiming we’re favourites. Just saying this: when the tournament starts and England walk out for that first game, we’ll have a team capable of going all the way. What they do with that capability is up to them. The rest of us will watch, hope, and probably still shout at the television when someone takes a stupid yellow card.
But this time, just maybe, there’s something real to shout about.