England: How Three Lions could line-up at World Cup 2022, with Jadon Sancho, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Phil Foden
All three stars could play a huge part in England’s next World Cup campaign
Jadon Sancho could play a starring role for England at the 2022 World Cup.
The 18-year-old’s dazzling displays with Borussia Dortmund saw him make his senior Three Lions debut against Croatia in October.
He is likely to add to his three caps when England face the Czech Republic, live on talkSPORT, and Montenegro this month.
And he's not the only young gun ready to make their mark with Callum Hudson-Odoi now set to feature on the bench.
But how could England’s starting XI look with Sancho and other English wonderkids in it? talkSPORT.com take a look…
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After Jordan Pickford’s successful 2018 World Cup campaign, he is in line to be England’s No.1 in years to come, despite his recent shaky form with Everton.
The back-five system was a hit in Russia last summer, but England manager Gareth Southgate’s 4-3-3 formation worked wonders in their Nations League group games.
You can expect John Stones and Harry Maguire, two firm regulars under Southgate, to be the country’s starting centre-halves aged 28 and 29 respectively.
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There are seven live commentaries across the talkSPORT network this week. Find out what they are and where to hear them, below...
- England vs Czech Republic (Friday) – talkSPORT
- Walsall vs Barnsley (Saturday) – talkSPORT 2
- Shrewsbury vs Portsmouth (Saturday) – talkSPORT 2
- Gibraltar vs Republic of Ireland (Saturday) – talkSPORT 2
- San Marino vs Scotland (Sunday) – talkSPORT 2
- Netherlands vs Germany (Sunday) – talkSPORT 2
Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is likely to be a shoo-in, although Aaron Wan-Bissaka will, on current form, push him all the way at right-back.
If Leicester City ace Ben Chilwell can improve defensively then he should edge out Manchester United’s Luke Shaw, who will be an excellent backup.
Declan Rice, who can operate as a defender, could be the holding midfielder after the West Ham star pledged his international future to England last month.
James Maddison, who was unlucky to miss Southgate’s latest squad selection, could play just in front of Rice, while the likes of Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard may well have been usurped in the pecking order by Phil Foden, who should emerge from the long shadow of David Silva at Manchester City in the next three years.
Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount, on loan at Championship club Derby, would also be eyeing a starting spot in Southgate’s midfield.
With England captain Harry Kane leading the line, Borussia Dortmund wonderkid Sancho will potentially nudge out Marcus Rashford, while with the right growth Callum Hudson-Odoi may well beat Raheem Sterling to a starting spot also.
Either way, it seems manager Gareth Southgate is going to be having some serious selection headaches over the next three years.
