Gary Neville predicted exactly how England would falter at the FIFA World Cup 2026 before the tournament even began.
The Three Lions face France in the third-place play-off on Saturday after letting a one-goal lead slip in the semi-final against Argentina, who scored twice late on to reach a second consecutive final.
Anthony Gordon put England ahead in the 55th minute, but Thomas Tuchel’s side retreated further back as the game wore on and ultimately succumbed to goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez.
Tuchel was heavily criticised after the final whistle for subbing on more defenders, which relinquished control of the game and invited more pressure from the Argentinians.
Neville foresaw this exact eventuality before the World Cup got underway, predicting that England would not be able to keep the ball against the best teams in the world at the latter end of the tournament.
Gary Neville proven right after England prediction came true
“The bit that frightens me to death and I think will cost us, I’m pretty it will cost us and I hope I’m wrong,” the former Manchester United and England defender said on The Overlap in June.
“England have been knocked out of tournaments for 20-odd years, Croatia in the semi-final, Italy in a final and Spain in a final.
“When we play in conditions later in a tournament, slightly fatigued and the team keep the ball off us, we are unable to get through that match at the last stages of a tournament and it will happen again.
“Because of the squad that he’s picked, any option of us being a possession team has gone. We are not a possession team in this tournament, which I don’t mind.
“We are a counter-attacking team against the top teams, because you’ve got (Marcus) Rashford and (Anthony) Gordon, we can’t keep possession with those. You’ve (Noni) Madueke and (Bukayo) Saka on this side.
“You’ve got a midfield of (Declan) Rice and (Elliot) Anderson, who won’t be able to compete with the best midfields of Portugal, France, Spain and Brazil when it comes to rotation and keeping the ball. You’ve got (Harry) Kane who probably drops in with (Jude) Bellingham or (Morgan) Rogers, so you’re not keeping possession against the top teams. It’s impossible.
“I’m telling you, those teams I’ve named will keep the ball a lot longer than ours. At that point, when you’ve played four, five, six games, you’ve travelled all over America, I think that will be the point where we [collapse] and the engine goes and the petrol runs out.
“And it will happen again.”
Gary called it on our World Cup preview show on England not being able to cope against possession teams in the knockout stages… pic.twitter.com/GXUySkliD8
“That is my concern again. I’m hoping Thomas Tuchel proves me wrong and he finds a way to get over the line somehow, he’s got that in him.
“But Gareth (Southgate) was developing us into a team that I felt was getting more technical. And maybe it was wrong, with the likes of (Cole) Palmer, (Phil) Foden, Bellingham, Saka; it was all trying to be a bit more fluid.
“It feels like we’ve gone back to being a bit more narrow, people who can run very quickly from there to there in wide areas, and we’ve got some people who can run past Harry.”
pic.twitter.com/GXUySkliD8
