British Prime Minister Keir Starmer thinks football is coming home again 58 years after England won the Fifa World Cup in 1966.
He said this in Washington, where he met President Joe Biden less than an hour after England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semi-final on Tuesday (July 10).
Asked if football is coming home, he said, “Looks like it.”
England have not lost a game since Labour came to power after the July 4 general election, he said.
England defeated Switzerland on penalties in the Euro quarter-final on July 6.
Now England will face Spain in the final on Sunday.
Starmer watched with Dutch PM
Starmer watched the early part of the semi-final with the new Dutch prime minister , Dick Schoof, who was also in Washington for Nato’s 75th anniversary.
Biden, who played American football in high school, was asked if he watched the game. “I heard,” he said, and joked about England’s progress to the final: “It’s all because of the prime minister.”
Starmer watched the match till Harry Kane equalized for England.
Starmer said: “I began to watch the game with the Netherlands prime minister, but we left at 1-1.”
President Biden laughed and asked Starmer: “And you guys are still talking to one another?”
England went on to win the match with a late goal by super sub Ollie Watkins.
“What a game England and what a winner,” the prime minister wrote on X. “Berlin here we come!”
Starmer will attend the final in Berlin.
Biden, who said “it’s good news” that England won, called the US and UK the “best of allies” and described Britain as “the transatlantic knot” that ties NATO together.
Starmer gifts Biden Arsenal shirt
Starmer, an Arsenal fan, gifted Biden a personalised Arsenal shirt – printed with his surname and the number 46 on the back, a nod to his presidential number.
There was no reference to Biden’s re-election bid marred by concern over his age after his disastrous debate with the Republican rival Donald Trump.
Earlier, Starmer insisted Biden, 81, is not too old to be president.
However, in Britain, Starmer had proposed that peers should retire from the House of Lords at 80.
Starmer said that was a separate issue. He explained that he proposed retirement at 80 to reduce the size of the upper chamber.
“In terms of the age in the House of Lords, the simple fact is that our House of Lords is massive,” he said.
“We’ve got 800-plus members of the House of Lords, it’s simply too big. We need to reduce it.
“So it doesn’t reflect on how other elected representatives are chosen in other countries, it’s to do with the size of the House of Lords.”
‘Football coming home’ history
Starmer’s sentiments prevailed over his habitual caution when he was asked whether football was coming home and he replied, “Looks like it.”
For “football‘s coming home” is a phrase often used but seldom realized in real life. England have been champions only once.
The words are taken from the the Three Lions song sung by England fans.
“Football’s coming home” was a common chant during Euro 2020, but England lost to Italy in the final at Wembley.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer thinks football is coming home again 58 years after England won the Fifa World Cup as the host nation in 1966.
He said this in Washington, where he met President Joe Biden less than an hour after England defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the Euro 2024 semi-final at Dortmund, Germany, on Wednesday (July 10).
Asked if football is coming home, he said, “Looks like it.”
England have not lost a game since Labour came to power after the July 4 general election, he said.
England defeated Switzerland on penalties in the Euro quarter-final on July 6.
Now England will face Spain in the final on Sunday.
Starmer watched with Dutch PM
Starmer watched the early part of the semi-final with the new Dutch prime minister , Dick Schoof, who was also in Washington for Nato’s 75th anniversary.
Biden, who played American football in high school, was asked if he watched the game. “I heard,” he said, and joked about England’s progress to the final: “It’s all because of the prime minister.”
Starmer watched the match till Harry Kane equalized for England.
Starmer said: “I began to watch the game with the Netherlands prime minister, but we left at 1-1.”
President Biden laughed and asked Starmer: “And you guys are still talking to one another?”
England went on to win the match with a late goal by super sub Ollie Watkins.
“What a game England and what a winner,” the prime minister wrote on X. “Berlin here we come!”
Starmer will attend the final in Berlin.
Biden, who said “it’s good news” that England won, called the US and UK the “best of allies” and described Britain as “the transatlantic knot” that ties NATO together.
Starmer gifts Biden Arsenal shirt
Starmer, an Arsenal fan, gifted Biden a personalised Arsenal shirt – printed with his surname and the number 46 on the back, a nod to his presidential number.
There was no reference to Biden’s re-election bid marred by concern over his age after his disastrous debate with the Republican rival Donald Trump.
Earlier, Starmer insisted Biden, 81, is not too old to be president.
However, in Britain, Starmer had proposed that peers should retire from the House of Lords at 80.
Starmer said that was a separate issue. He explained that he proposed retirement at 80 to reduce the size of the upper chamber.
“In terms of the age in the House of Lords, the simple fact is that our House of Lords is massive,” he said.
“We’ve got 800-plus members of the House of Lords, it’s simply too big. We need to reduce it.
“So it doesn’t reflect on how other elected representatives are chosen in other countries, it’s to do with the size of the House of Lords.”
‘Football coming home’ history
Starmer’s sentiments prevailed over his habitual caution when he was asked whether football was coming home and he replied, “Looks like it.”
For “football‘s coming home” is a phrase often used but seldom realized in real life. England have been champions only once.
The words are taken from the the Three Lions song sung by England fans.
“Football’s coming home” was a common chant during Euro 2020, but England lost to Italy in the final at Wembley.
After Relegation In Nations League, Is England A Better Side For The World Cup?
England went through humiliations in the Nations League, getting relegated after poor performances under the leadership of Gareth Southgate.
England and Germany shared the spoils at Wembley in a 3-3 draw but the results left both sides frustrated with their runs ahead of the World Cup.
Nevertheless, some in the UK are not shocked with the ‘Nation’s League’ performances, saying the England squad is one of the favourites to win the biggest global football tournament in Qatar.
While that is comforting, that is people still see the England squad as the best in the world ahead of the World Cup, there are concerns about the team.
The England squad had to fight against racist remarks online after it failed to win the EURO 2020, with three of its players missing the penalties at the end, giving Italy victory.
The Italians made it to the final stage of the Nations League in what can be seen as a performance filled with consistency, unlike the England squad. They should be one of the favourites to lift the World Cup coming November.
Russia and Qatar
Now, what is the difference between the England team that was fielded in Russia and the one that will defend their chances in Qatar?
England meets the USA, Wales and Iran in what can be said is an easy qualifying group that should see both the English side and the Americans go through the first stage.
Gregg Berhalter, the American coach, praised Gareth Southgate and backed the Three Lions to win the World Cup.
He says Southgate transformed the English players into a squad of superheroes.
He also says the performances of the England’s Women squad in the recent Women’s World Cup will also boost the morale of the English side in Qatar.
In Russia, England blew a chance to end their memorable World Cup adventure on a high note and become the best team to leave English shores when they were defeated 2-0 by Belgium in the third-place play-off.
This time around, they have a relatively easy (on paper) run in the first round of the W. Cup. WIll they disappoint the supporters?
England’s performance in Russia was one of their best showing in a World Cup after their 1966 controversial win against Germany by 4-2.
It was a Harry Maguire header that sent England on its way to the semi-finals after they beat Sweden 2-0.
Kieran Trippier’s superb fifth-minute free-kick put England ahead in the Luzhniki Stadium.
With this goal, they were on course for only their second World Cup final appearance. But Ivan Perisic’s second-half equaliser was well deserved as Croatia began to show their worth as the game progressed.
Another period of extra-time stood in the way of the Three Lions reaching the final against France, only for Mario Mandzukic to tuck away the winning goal after some static England defending allowed him to beat Pickford.
England and USA
In Qatar, England has to face the Americans and with the World Cup history between these two nations, it is hard to say whether the English side will come out the winner this time.
England has played the USA twice in the World Cup. The first time was way back in history when the USA team surprised the entire world by beating England 1-0 in 1950 and a terrible 1-1 draw in Rustenburg (South Africa) in 2010.
While the USA seems to be the bigger thorn in England’s side in this tournament, it still has to end up first in the group to face a lesser performing side in the next round. That is if England qualifies.
Nevertheless, in this year’s edition of the FIFA World Cup, Brazil is the 9/2 favourite to win, followed by France at 6/1 and England and Argentina at 7/1. This is based on the Bet365 predictions.
Poor results lately means England has drifted from the hot favourites to a lesser one but it is still among the countries that could end up as the top four in the competition.
Gareth Southgate’s England are 7/1 third favourites to win the World Cup in Qatar this winter, according to the bookies, after their poor run continued during the recent international break.
Southgate’s team was defeated 1-0 at the San Siro on Friday before drawing 3-3 with Germany at Wembley on Monday. These results bring their winless streak to six games.
For Behalter, the number of Premier League players (the best league in the world says many) means England is a hot favourite.
‘I don’t know if the expectations have always been in line with the quality of the squad. So back in 2010, realistically, I didn’t think they had the squad that could win the World Cup, right? But now it’s different. Now I think we all agree they have a squad that can win the World Cup.
‘And Gareth, in my opinion, has done a great job of helping the players cope with that pressure and actually using the jersey as a cape rather than a straitjacket and really giving them the freedom to play on the field, giving them the idea that they can represent their country in a positive way and make the country proud,’ he adds from an MLS event in Minneapolis last month.
The US begin their campaign against Wales, with the sides meeting in October 2020 for a 0-0 draw in Cardiff.
‘They were a good team, a very hard team to score on, a physical team, a lot of Premier League players, some real high quality in the attack, quality defenders,’ Behalter says.
Southgate’s squad
While the controversial and error-prone Harry Maguire is getting the backing of coach Southgate, it is undoubted that Harry Kane remains the top English player on the list of selected players or those who will be on the plane for the World Cup.
Harry Kane remains at the top of the table, with Declan Rice (2nd), Jordan Pickford (3rd), and Raheem Sterling (4th), but there is a change below that, with Jude Bellingham climbing four places to fifth after strong performances against Italy and Germany.
In the absence of Kalvin Phillips, who was already struggling for playing time at Manchester City before his injury, Bellingham appeared set to partner Rice. In the rankings, the Borussia Dortmund teenager leapfrogs Reece James (6th), Phil Foden (7th), Mason Mount (8th), Bukayo Saka (9th), and John Stones (10th).
The biggest movers, however, are Eric Dier (11th) and Luke Shaw (12th), who have risen 10 and 16 places respectively after returning to the squad and seizing their opportunity.
They suddenly look like sure bets for Qatar, and possibly Southgate’s starting lineup as well.
Despite a chorus of supporters and pundits criticising England manager Gareth Southgate for not playing Liverpool defender Kieran Tripper, Southgate believes Tripper is ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold in the England pecking order.
Alexander-Arnold, who was on the substitutes bench but did not play against Italy, was left out of the squad that drew 3-3 with Germany at Wembley on Monday night in the Nations League.
Reece James, England’s standout right-sided defender, played the entire match and is set to play in the World Cup in Qatar.
HARRY Kane is ina mind-blowing mood. The England skipper looked broken, already haunted.
His lips moved and there were words, completely monotone, but it was as if he was not there, it was not him.
You just cannot describe it in words. It was just so sad because Kane did not deserve this.
As England trailed France 1-0 in the World Cup quarter-final, he had led the revival, carrying the physical fight to Dayot Upamecano, going close on a couple of occasions, giving his team hope. He scored the equaliser in the second half with a penalty but, at 2-1, it all fell apart for him when he blazed a second spotkick high. It was the 84th minute.
The first thing to say is that had Kane scored, England would still have had a lot to do to beat the defending champions, most likely in extra time or on penalties. Nobody knows what would have happened.
CRUCIAL TIME
But in the moment, everyone thought they knew. England would have had the momentum at a crucial time. They were already playing well; now they would sweep to a statement victory and a semi-final against Morocco.
Poor Kane. He has been left to carry a heavy burden and it is uncharted territory for him. The 29yearold has experienced setbacks in his career, beginning with the notorious release by Arsenal as an eight-year-old. There were the difficult loans at Norwich and especially Leicester, tough questions about whether he would make the grade at Tottenham.
Kane tweeted on Sunday that he would not hide from his penalty miss. “It hurts and it’ll take some time to get over it,” he wrote.
Kane had the one-season wonder jibes in 2014-15. He has endured three Cup final defeats (League Cup 2015 and 2021, Champions League 2019); injuries; the failed push to get a move to Manchester City in the summer of last year. But it is very difficult to remember him making an error on the pitch that has so obviously cost his team.
TOP-LEVEL CAREER
Since the 90th-minute deflected winner for Spurs at Aston Villa in November 2014 that ignited his toplevel career, there has been the sense of his stars aligning, of seasononseason progress, the development of his game.
In the Euro 2020 semi-final against Denmark, he had an extra-time penalty to give England a 2-1 lead and he fluffed it, shooting weakly at Kasper Schmeichel. Yet the goalkeeper made an even bigger mistake.
Schmeichel ought to have caught the ball. At the very least, he should have pushed it away from goal. Instead, he patted it back to Kane, who gobbled up the rebound. It seems strange to criticise a goalkeeper for saving a penalty but Schmeichel had to do more.
All eyes will be on how Kane reacts.
MIND-BLOWING MOOD
He is famously singleminded and resilient and there is no doubt he will want to get back on the pitch as soon as possible. At least that will happen in relatively short order – the winter World Cup has this upside for him.
Spurs’ next game is at Brentford on Boxing Day, which was where Bukayo Saka played in his first competitive fixture for Arsenal after his penalty miss in the Euro 2020 final shootout defeat against Italy. Back then, the Brentford fans applauded him. Saka’s situation had an extra, appalling dimension. He had been racially abused on social media and the crowd wanted to rally round him.
For Kane the outofbody experience has happened. He’s absolutely in a mind-blowing mood. He looked broken, already haunted.
The longer-term recovery starts here.
* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.
AT 3.00am Wednesday, in the first-ever British home nations clash in the World Cup, in the so-called “Battle of Britain”, one of England or Wales will seriously stake it out.
Wales are confident of turning the tables at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in this crucial clash to decide the final positionings in Group ‘B’.
“The dragon on my shirt; that’s all I need,” Wales star Gareth Bale said, looking down at the Wales crest on his red polo shirt.
On paper, it’s England as they are top of the group and need just a point to secure their passage to the knockout stages, while Wales are on the verge of elimination.
CHANGES IN LINEUP
They must beat England for the first time since 1984 in order to advance, along with hoping that Iran and the USA draw.
England boss Gareth Southgate may make changes to the lineup that started both against Iran and Wales, amid widespread clamour for Phil Foden to be introduced.
But Bale is confident they are capable of shocking England in World Cup showdown.
“There’s been a few shocks in the tournament already and there’s no reason why we can’t do the same,” the 33-year-old said. “Everyone has weaknesses. We’ve done our homework and had meetings, and I’m sure they’ve done the same with us.
FAVOURITES TO WIN
“We know how difficult it will be. England are a very good team, They’re one of the favourites to win the tournament. We are under no illusions it will be hard, we’re going to give everything like we always do.”
Even then, mathematically, unless England are beaten by a four-goal margin, Wales need Iran and the United States to draw their final match to make the round of 16 in Qatar.
It is a very tall order for a Wales side who have won only once in 10 games. But Bale says they can draw on respective underdog victories for Japan, Morocco and Saudi Arabia over Germany, Belgium and Argentina.
So, who’s your pick for this “Battle of Britain”?
Keep your fingers crossed for a surprise, perhaps.
* Suresh Nair is an award-winning sports journalist who is also a qualified international coach and international referee instructor.
According to the BBC, England has officially announced their World Cup squad, days after Brazil and the United States announced theirs. The deadline still remains on 14th November and those that haven’t announced their players would need to think critically.
James Maddison, Leicester’s proud midfielder has been named to join his country’s 26-man team for their match in Qatar. Gareth Southgate, the controversial manager, has also selected Marcus Rashford from Manchester United.
Players from Newcastle United, Manchester City and Arsenal were also selected to join their country’s national team. Unfortunately for Fikayo Tomori, Ivan Toney and Jarrod Bowen, they were all missing from the list that was selected by Southgate.
Image of Harry Maguire, from Wikipedia.
Furthermore, on the 21st of November, England will play against Iran in their World Cup debut. Ironically, Ukraine did not get a chance to play this time even after their lobbying to remove said Middle Eastern country from the World Cup list.
Kalvin Phillips is in the squad even after a two month absence due to his shoulder injury. Manchester United’s Harry Maguire who has struggled to get a game this season is also in the list. Unfortunately Jadon Sancho was not selected by Southgate.
Here is the list of all the English players:
Defenders: Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), Eric Dier (Tottenham), John Stones (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Conor Coady (Everton), Ben White (Arsenal), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool).
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Declan Rice (West Ham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Kalvin Phillips (Manchester City).
Forwards: James Maddison (Leicester), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Harry Kane (Tottenham), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Callum Wilson (Newcastle), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United).
First and foremost, a fan questioned Southgate’s decision of letting Gallagher in the team. Southgate has stated before that he would not let any players in just on the fact of their popularity.
Fans questioned that statement due to the fact that he let Maguire, Dier and Phillips in. However, other fans responded that these three players have played well under Southgate’s instructions and management.
More fans were disrespecting Jordan Henderson. They questioned what his aim was and what he would do in the matches. Fans are not particularly excited for the current lineup of players and are making memes that England might lose the World Cup this year. However, we will just have to wait and see.
