England legend claims we cannot win World Cup for ‘horrible’ cause
Michael Owen is not confident about England’s chances of winning the 2026 World Cup in the USA due to the “horrible” heat conditions, saying there are teams better than Thomas Tuchel’s side.
They won’t win it, he says(Image: Richard Pelham, Getty Images)
Michael Owen has highlighted the “horrible” element behind his downbeat assessment of England’s World Cup prospects. The 1998 World Cup sensation worries the sweltering conditions in the USA, where they will face Croatia in Dallas, Ghana in Boston and Panama in New Jersey, will hamper Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
With scorching temperatures, sky-high expectations and the calibre of rival World Cup contenders, Owen admits he lacks confidence about England’s ability to end a 60-year drought since their solitary World Cup triumph.
“Listen, we obviously can win it, we’ve got a good team. But I don’t think we are good enough, I think there are teams that are better than us,” said Owen, ambassador for Casino.org, a resource designed to make discovering Irish online casino sites easier and safer.
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“I look at France’s squad and I think they are a lot better than us.”, reports Belfast Live. “Then I look at the conditions and think we are probably the least equipped nation to play in that type of temperature. There are other teams that it will affect as well, but there is not the pressure on the other teams to have the ball, to press.
“We’re a very good team, but there are two or three better teams. France’s squad is so much better in my opinion. If you are not the best team and you are not in your comfort zone in terms of the conditions either, then you’ve got two things going against you.
“The problem as well is we’re expected to have the ball all the time. It’s not going to be good enough from an English person’s point of view to be playing counter-attacking football, which probably would suit us best. So I just think the conditions won’t suit and there are one or two better teams. So we might get to the semis or quarters, but I can’t see us winning.”
Owen reflected on his own memories of featuring in World Cup matches under draining conditions. While he burst onto the scene in France in 1998, he also shone at the 2002 World Cup when England crashed out at the quarter-final stage against Brazil.
Owen netted the opener in that encounter, but strikes either side of the interval from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho propelled the eventual champions into the semi-finals. When questioned about his most sweltering match experience, he responded: “The Japan World Cup, quarter-finals against Brazil. We played against Nigeria in the group stages as well and it was unbearable. But the Japan World Cup was bad.”
So how will Tuchel’s squad navigate through the fixtures? “Certain players can handle the heat a lot better than others. Obviously there are going to be water breaks, which will be helpful to us. But it’s not like you can turn the sun off,” Owen said.
“It’s just going to be red hot and I don’t think we’ll cope with it that well, especially when we are expected to be on the front foot and using energy all the time. That would be my big worry. But what can you do? You run around, you can’t wait til half-time to refuel again, and if someone goes down you run to the side of the pitch to try and get a drink.
“It’s horrible. It’s not a nice thing. There’s nothing you can do about it. But we didn’t have drinks breaks like they are having in this tournament, so that will help. But if you have a drink and you start playing again, within three or four minutes you are gasping again. It’s not like a drinks break is going to solve all our problems. You probably need a drink every four, five or six minutes in that heat. So it will still be tough for them.”
