Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: England, FIFA World Cup, Football
Nasir Jabbar
England's World Cup 2026 starting XI was predicted by talkSPORT in 2021 and it now looks totally wrong.
Thomas Tuchel is set to lead England at next summer's World Cup in the United States.
The Three Lions resume their World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday when they face Andorra, having beaten Albania and Latvia in their opening two fixtures last March.
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England are expected to book their spot at the World Cup and will be among the favourites to raise gold.
Tuchel boasts a star-studded squad, with the likes of Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka at his disposal.
Barring any major issues, Kane, Bellingham and Saka will likely be included in England's starting XI in the States.
In 2021, talkSPORT predicted England's World Cup starting XI and surprisingly excluded Kane from the line-up.
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Bellingham and Saka, however, featured in the predicted starting XI, but the Arsenal star slotted in at left-back.
GK: Dean Henderson
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LB: Bukayo Saka
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold
CB: Joe Gomez
CB: Ben White
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CM: Jude Bellingham
CM: Declan Rice
AM: Phil Foden
LW: Jadon Sancho
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RW: Harvey Elliott
FW: Marcus Rashford
So, talkSPORT's inclusion of Bellingham, Saka, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Declan Rice and Phil Foden are pretty spot on. They are in and around the England set-up team and could very well start at the World Cup.
The same cannot be said about Joe Gomez, Ben White, who hasn't played for his country since 2022, Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott.
Gomez returned to the Liverpool squad against Crystal Palace following a spell on the sidelines and has not been included in Tuchel's latest squad. Sancho showed glimpses of his ability on loan at Chelsea but also isn't included. Elliott has yet to represent England at senior level.
As for Dean Henderson and Marcus Rashford, they could start for England at the World Cup but will likely be flying out to America for the competition.
Henderson has been included in the German boss' squad for games against Andorra and Senegal, while Rashford was recalled to the international fold earlier this year following his form at Aston Villa.