England — 2026 World Cup Squad

Start in the middle, because that is where this England side actually lives. Jude Bellingham has stopped being a prospect and become a load-bearing wall, drifting off the front, threading the pass, then ghosting into the box a beat after everyone stopped watching. Behind him Declan Rice does the unglamorous accounting, reading danger early and covering the ground that lets the men ahead gamble. Eberechi Eze adds the unpredictable streak between them, a player who can break a low block with one wriggle nobody saw coming.

Up top the picture is simpler and just as dangerous. Harry Kane remains the reference point, dropping to link and then punishing anything left open, his Bayern numbers a reminder that the appetite has not dimmed. Bukayo Saka is the release valve out right, the man you turn to when a game goes flat. Together they make a team that prefers to strangle matches rather than trade blows.

The unease sits at the back. John Stones can still glide out with the ball, but his minutes are being rationed now, and the questions about who shields him will decide how far this run goes.