The 48-team tournament, the largest in history, kicks off on Thursday with its opener Mexico vs South Africa, held in Mexico City.
England will begin their World Cup 2026 campaign against Croatia on June 17, and their squad contains previous tournament winners… at the U20 level.
England won the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup, beating Venezuela 1-0 in the tournament’s final, but who took part?
England’s past U20 World Cup winners
Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man England squad selection contains just one outfield player from the U20 World Cup victory.
That player is centre-back Ezri Konsa, who possesses prior World Cup-winning experience… in his singular tournament minute in the U20 team’s victory.
The standout player for Paul Simpson’s men, named Player of the Tournament and recipient of the Golden Ball, was Dominic Solanke.
The now 28-year-old joined a remarkable list of previous POTT winners in three Argentina internationals – Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Sergio Aguero.
From Liverpool, to Bournemouth, and now Tottenham Hotspur, Solanke failed to cement his place in Tuchel’s team after an underwhelming season with his relegation-battling Spurs side.
The other player to feature in both England’s U20 World Cup-winning squad and Tuchel’s 26-man selection is Dean Henderson, who started in a 1-1 draw against Guinea in the tournament’s group stage, back in 2017.
Liverpool’s third-choice goalkeeper this season, who received a select few appearances following injuries sustained by Giorgi Mamardashvili and Alisson Becker, won the World Cup’s Golden Glove – Freddie Woodman, playing back then in Newcastle.
The World Cup 2026 England squad also contains one other previous tournament winner… at the U17 level.
That player is Konsa’s centre-back partner Marc Guehi, who helped England to prevail in their first U17 World Cup victory, alongside Manchester City team-mate Phil Foden.
Foden’s notable omission from Tuchel’s selection is rivalled by that of Morgan Gibbs-White, who also featured in the U17 World Cup victory.
