“Would you like the chance to look ridiculous in five years’ time?”.
That was more or less the question we asked our reporters as we invited them to get out their crystal balls and come up with a possible England XI to take on the best of the continent at a home European Championship in the summer of 2028.
Others have tried similar things in the past and, inevitably, been made to look pretty silly. This 2008 attempt predicted Robbie Threlfall, Gavin Hoyte, Michael Johnson and Jose Baxter were the future of English football.
So, safe in the knowledge this will lead to similar levels of embarrassment when these teams are posted on social media (with no context, obviously) in five years, our writers have been coerced into happily submitted the XIs they think could lead England to glory.
Carl Anka
Start with Jude Bellingham and figure out the rest later was my approach to this.
Declan Rice seems like a sensible successor to Harry Kane as captain, and one can envision a fight between Morgan Gibbs-White, Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and Jacob Ramsey for the extra midfield spot in the seasons to come. I elect Jones here, for his nous when in possession for Liverpool. Angel Gomes will be an astute bench option.
The England Right-Back Wars™ will be won by… Tino Livramento, who spends the next few years learning the finer points of the position from Kieran Trippier and leaps ahead of Max Aarons, while Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deployment continues to be too finickety. Reece James’ current injury issues are a concern, as are Ben Chilwell’s. That’s why I say the left-back slot will go to… 18-year-old Calum Scanlon, who could make his senior Liverpool debut this season.
Eddie Nketiah politely declined Ghana call-ups for years, believing he would be the one to succeed Kane. He backed himself, so I will too. Something tells me Aaron Ramsdale won’t be an Arsenal player by 2028, but he’ll be a stellar England goalkeeper when the time comes.
Graham Potter to be head coach, assisted by James Milner and Adam Lallana.
Tim Spiers
This is Jason Tindall’s primary issue as he sets about trying to end 62 years of hurt at Euro 2028. Tindall, temporarily in charge of the England team after a tabloid sting does for Eddie Howe on the eve of the tournament, is hamstrung by the absence of Al Hilal’s injury-prone midfielder Jude Bellingham, whose body has given up on him after playing 420 matches in the previous six seasons.
Arsenal defender John Stones, one of several players who deserted Manchester City after their demotion from the Premier League to League One for alleged financial irregularities, captains the side.
Tindall persuades warhorse Kane, who one month earlier broke the Premier League goalscoring record while playing for Birmingham City under manager Tom Brady, to come out of international retirement. Meta TV pundit Gareth Southgate approves, but 34-year-old Kane is well past his best and England bow out in the quarter-finals to France on penalties.
Still, at least Baddiel and Skinner made it to No 1 again.
Rob Tanner
Bellingham will be the name on everyone’s lips in five years’ time… and it might not just be Jude people are talking about.
While Jude is setting the world alight at Real Madrid, younger brother Jobe is currently making an impact with Sunderland in the Championship. Still only 18, time is certainly on Jobe’s side if we’re talking about 2028 and the prospect of an England midfield with two Bellinghams in it would be mouthwatering, although there will be plenty of options for manager Eddie Howe.
England have been so reliant on the goals of Harry Kane, but in five years they will need a new solution and it could come in the form of Eddie Nketiah, who should be in the prime of his career by then. Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott is another who has plenty of potential to develop in the coming seasons under Jurgen Klopp.
A few of England’s 2022 Under-19 Euros-winning squad could also step up by then, with Elliott’s Liverpool team-mate Jarell Quansah starting to get some first-team minutes now.
Burnley’s Aaron Ramsey has also kicked on from that victory in July last year, as has Brentford’s Matthew Cox, who was the England goalkeeper in that squad and he could be in the frame for the senior job here. But experience is important for ’keepers and Aaron Ramsdale will only be 30 by then and could be the No 1.
Thom Harris
At last, a full major men’s international tournament on English soil again. Let the national overthink begin.
There are four immediate names on my team sheet; two of the world’s best midfielders in Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, and two of its deadliest forwards in Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, the latter restored to a more attacking central role under Manchester City boss Roberto De Zerbi.
Ramsdale pips James Trafford to the No 1 spot, having nailed down a regular starting position at Aston Villa, Reece James is risked amid the injury doubts that have been a fixture in his career. Rico Lewis is the ideal inverted full-back, while Manchester United’s Marc Guehi shifts over to the right to allow progressive-pass machine Levi Colwill to fire balls forward.
As much as manager Lee Carsley wants Angel Gomes receiving those passes at the base of midfield alongside Rice, the incredible creative form of Morgan Gibbs-White is just too good to ignore.
He will keep the service flowing to Harry Kane, the ultimate goal poacher in the twilight of his career, who will only extend his unassailable lead at the top of the national team scoring charts on the way to a Wembley semi-final, where Germany’s Jamal Musiala will fuel the narrative of a painful England defeat.
No time to feel sorry for ourselves, though: San Marino in World Cup qualifying is just two months away.
Ajay Rose
Aaron Ramsdale, fresh from captaining Leicester City to victory in the 2028 Europa Conference League final, starts in goal.
Levi Colwill remains at Chelsea, but Carney Chukwuemeka has been sold to AC Milan for a modest fee. However, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly becomes so convinced that Fikayo Tomori and Chukwuemeka are the missing pieces of the jigsaw, he sells three per cent of his stake in baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers to fund a £257million ($336m) double deal to bring the pair back to Stamford Bridge.
Tammy Abraham’s seniority and hat-trick in the 2027 Nations League semi-finals mean there is simply no way he does not start for manager Eddie Howe. Rico Lewis, better known as “one of the best players” Pep Guardiola has ever coached, takes a break from coaching Lionel Messi’s children to fill in at left-back.
Fans take to ThoughtSpace, a new social media platform aimed at rivalling X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to make it known that Jamie Bynoe-Gittens or Cole Palmer should have started ahead of Foden. But, just as we saw with James Maddison at the 2022 World Cup, all of that clamour suddenly disappears once the tournament actually starts.
Caoimhe O’Neill
James Trafford is given the nod to be No 1 by manager James Milner, who almost comes out of international retirement at the age of 43 due to a shortage of left-backs.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has finally nailed down his place in the team and it is at right-back, even though he’s a midfielder now. At left-back is Lewis Hall, who has added himself to a long list of one-that-got-away players for Chelsea. Jarell Quansah is a Liverpool first-team regular now and he partners Levi Colwill in central defence.
Curtis Jones has recently become a midfield mainstay after years of being overlooked. Declan Rice (Arsenal’s captain) and Jude Bellingham (England’s captain) join him. Bellingham arrived late to the training camp after being given more time off to rest after playing every minute for Real Madrid as they won La Liga and the Champions League.
Foden has just turned 28 and is in the best form of his career. Marcus Rashford is thriving and leading the line for England. Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka is continuing to do wonderful things on that right wing.
(Top photos: Getty Images)
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