Unfulfilled Potential: Why England Deserved More World Cup Wins
England has won the FIFA World Cup only once, in 1966, when they hosted the tournament. Since then, they have reached the semi-finals twice, in 1990 and 2018. In the 2018 World Cup, England had a very strong squad and reached the semi-finals, where they lost to Croatia 2-1 in extra time.
England had a good chance of winning the tournament, given their strong squad and good performances in the earlier rounds. However, winning the World Cup is a highly competitive and unpredictable endeavours, and many factors can influence the outcome, including the quality of the opposition, injuries, and luck. Therefore, it is difficult to say definitively whether England “should” have won the World Cup in any given year.
The World Cup is a test of a team’s skill, perseverance, and luck over the course of several weeks of intense competition. While England may have been a strong contender in 2018, the fact remains that they did not win the tournament, and they will have to wait until the next World Cup to try again.
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was held in South Korea and Japan, and England qualified for the tournament as winners of their qualifying group. The England team had high hopes for the tournament, with a talented squad that included players such as David Beckham, Michael Owen, and Steven Gerrard.
In the group stage, England were drawn in a tough group alongside Argentina, Sweden, and Nigeria. They started with a 1-1 draw against Sweden, followed by a 0-0 draw against Nigeria. In their final group game against Argentina, England won 1-0 thanks to a penalty scored by David Beckham.
In the Round of 16, England faced Denmark and won 3-0, with goals from Sven-Goran Eriksson. However, in the quarterfinals, England faced Brazil, who were the eventual winners of the tournament. Despite taking an early lead through a Michael Owen goal, Brazil came back to win 2-1, ending England’s hopes of World Cup glory.
Overall, England’s performance in the 2002 World Cup was mixed. They performed well in the group stage but were ultimately knocked out by a strong Brazil team. The tournament was also notable for David Beckham’s redemption after his sending off in the 1998 World Cup, as he scored the winning penalty against Argentina in the group stage.
The England “golden generation” included players such as David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, and Wayne Rooney, among others. These players were highly successful at the club level, playing for top clubs in England and Europe, and they also enjoyed considerable success with the England national team.
Despite their talent, however, the England “golden generation” was never able to win a major international trophy. They came close on several occasions, reaching the quarterfinals of the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and the semi-finals of the 2004 and 2012 European Championships, but were ultimately unable to break through and win a major tournament.
While the England “golden generation” was undoubtedly one of the most talented groups of players ever to represent the country, their failure to win a major international trophy has been a source of frustration and disappointment for England fans. Nonetheless, they remain an important part of England’s footballing history, and their legacy continues to inspire young players today.
Pep Guardiola is a highly successful and respected manager in the world of football, having won numerous domestic and international titles with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City.
Guardiola could certainly help England’s chances, it is not a guarantee of success, if we look back at history when he managed Barcelona, Spain won the World Cup, when he managed Bayern Munich, Germany won the World Cup, with this in mind you would think that he is now managing Manchester City, England will win the World cup. Not blaming Guardiola for England not winning the World Cup.
It’s clear to see the tactics during his Barcelona reign was highly influential in the Spanish national team, in that Spanish squad they had players who plays for Barcelona under Pep Guardiola. These are the players who played under him during Spain’s World Cup win:
Víctor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andrés Iniesta & Pedro.
7 of the 23-man squad plays under Pep.
Now let’s check the German squad in 2014 to see which players play in Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich:
Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Philipp Lahm, Mario Gotze, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller & Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Its not surprising that 7 of the 23-man squad plays under Guardiola during Germany’s World Cup winning team in 2014
Pep Guardiola first season at Man City was 2016, let’s see how many Man City players was in the 2018 England World Cup campaign: Kyle Walker, John Stones, Raheem Sterling & Fabian Delph.
4 out of the 23-man squad.
2022 World Cup England squad; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips, Phil Foden & Raheem Sterling (at Chelsea but played under Pep) 6 out of the 23-man squad.
The media was comparing this England squad to the ‘Golden generation’ squad, I personally think the golden generation is better than this current squad, this current squad is still young and can grow and improve as a team.
The main question is if this team is so talented and gifted why haven’t won it yet? They came very close 2018 4th place in the World Cup, 2022 World Cup lost to France in the Quartar-finals, inn between this World Cup there was a Euro 2020 but played in 2021 due to covid. England had an amazing run lost on penalties to Italy, I would say they scored way too early, 2mins into the game than sat back. Then the Italians dominated possession.
I feel that England should have won more World Cups especially during the golden generation, the managers at the time didn’t choose the right formation or didn’t put the best players in that position, I hope that’s not the case now. It would be sad to see another generation going thru that.
Catch you in the next one.