Three English National Players to Watch After the World Cup Ends
As the English national team looks to bring home its first World Cup since 1966 in Qatar, fans all over the country are pulling for a major tournament win. England came so very close to a European championship in the summer of 2021, only to fall to Italy in painful fashion in a penalty shootout.
Whatever ends up being the fate of the Three Lions in the game’s most high-profile tournament, the players that left it all on the pitch will return to their club teams looking to finish the season strong.
We’ll take a closer gander at three players to keep an eye on after the World Cup concludes in mid-December.
Jude Bellingham
Regardless of England’s team fortunes in the World Cup, there is arguably no individual player who will have gotten more out of the experience than 19 year-old Jude Bellingham. Still a relative boy amongst men who have participated on the big stage before, Bellingham’s exposure to and involvement with some of the sport’s most brilliant players will only aid his development moving forward.
While he will go back to Germany to play with Borussia Dortmund, the potential that Bellingham possesses for future major tournaments will be worth watching in the coming years. It would not be surprising in the least if the neophyte appears in a record five World Cups over the course of his career with the current trajectory that the young man is on.
With the spectacle of the World Cup behind him, Bellingham might view the club portion of his life without any sort of reservation or nervousness, which may eventually skew soccer odds in Germany. He could be in for a tremendous second half of the year once he returns with this potentially new attitude towards the game.
Harry Kane
It feels like English fans have had Harry Kane in their sporting lives forever, but somehow, the Tottenham striker is still not yet 30 years old. He remains a high-profile star that will continue to bear the brunt of criticism or receive heaps of credit depending on the outcome of games at Tottenham or in the World Cup.
Like he tends to do most seasons, Kane has been near the top of the scoring ranks of the Premier League again in 2022-2023. There’s no reason to think that he can’t finish strong again, but it will be worth keeping an eye on him for signs of wear and tear in the early stages of 2023.
Early in the World Cup, Kane’s health and fitness were called into question when his balky ankle created some doubt as to whether he would be able to suit up for each match. Because of the gravity of the World Cup, it was unlikely that Kane would be held out, but it underscores the notion that he may not be playing at 100% at the highest level of the sport.
His health might be a lot better once the club season resumption comes around, but that mileage may cause Kane to be a little less effective than he usually is out of the gate. Tottenham is fortunate to start the second half of the season with winnable games against Brentford and Aston Villa, which might help ease Kane back into the swing of things.
Harry Maguire
With changes abound throughout different areas of the Premier League, one constant has been the presence and play of Harry Maguire. He’s been on Sheffield United, Hull City, Leicester City and Manchester United, and has been effective at every stop.
His overall resume warrants consideration of his inclusion on to each English national team squad, but there was some hesitation about Maguire’s role heading into the 2022 World Cup. He had not played to the same standard during the 2022 season that he had established prior, which led fans to wonder whether he would be able to find his rhythm again for the World Cup.
England manager Gareth Southgate tuned out all of the cynics by continuing to lean on Maguire during the tournament. Southgate’s faith was handsomely rewarded, as Maguire played a marvelous game against the United States in the group stage. The Americans continued to attack the zone and were rewarded with a plethora of corner kicks.
However, Maguire remained steady during these high intensity moments, as he provided header clearance on many dangerous balls being played in by the United States. Without the play of Maguire to keep them at bay, the result would have ended up much more unfavourably for England.
It will be curious to see whether Maguire is buoyed by some stabilizing performances at the World Cup, or if he reverts back to the struggling players fans were concerned by before the tournament began.
