The best England players in every position 26/27

It is safe to say that the 2026 World Cup did not end in the way England supporters hoped it would.

The Three Lions made it to the semi-finals and were 1-0 up against Lionel Messi’s Argentina. Up to that point, Thomas Tuchel’s men were good value for their lead until things changed the moment a few substitutions were made.

The way England exited the tournament attracted huge criticism from pundits and fans alike, seemingly upset with the negativity of Tuchel’s tactics. England went full defensive and were made to pay the price when they lost 2-1.

Still, they did salvage some pride when they defeated France 6-4 during a bonkers bronze medal match to secure their best finish at World Cup since winning the event in 1966.

How did the players fare during the tournament? We’ve ranked all 26 squad members.

Here’s what we think of each player in the squad…

Goalkeepers

Jordan Pickford has been England’s number one since 2018 and the Everton star didn’t relinquish his position in north America. That said, he still had a few nervy moments. Will he still be a regular started in four years? Time will tell.

Defence

It’s safe to say that heading into the tournament, the defensive spots in Tuchel’s England squad were generating the biggest talking points. Guehi arrived in the USA as England’s best defender but didn’t actually start their first game. Instead, it was Konsa and Stones who were preferred to begin with.

That said, due to injuries, the German manager found himself repeatedly chopping and changing at the back, something that certainly didn’t help with the team’s rhythm.

Reece James picked up an injury which meant Jarrel Quansah notably had to start at right-back against Mexico in the Azteca. The former Liverpool man sadly picked up a red card for a studs up tackle.

Djed Spence, however, was England’s breakout star of the tournament. His inclusion was the most controversial when the squad was announced but he proved the doubters wrong, starring at both right-back and at left-back. Strangely, he ended up being their best defender.

Midfielders

England’s star man at the World Cup was undoubtedly Jude Bellingham. He scored seven goals and carried the weight of a nation on his shoulders. We all know how good he is but this only proved why he deserves to be rated so highly alongside the best players in the world right now.

Behind him, however, there was not much to shout about. Rice struggled with his fitness but ultimately came good in the bronze medal match, scoring and registering an assist. Elliot Anderson earned a £116m move to Manchester City during the tournament but he and Rice failed to really gel too much.

The rest of the midfielders did not earn too much game time, although Rogers did start the semi-final on the right of the attack.

Forwards

Are there any superlatives left to describe the mighty Harry Kane? What a tournament he had in the summer of 2026. He found the net on six occasions and went past Gary Linekar to become England’s all-time leading scorer at World Cups.

To the side of him, however, the was not an awful lot to shout about and it’s arguably why England came unstuck.

Bukayo Saka was clearly not fully fit but when he did play, he made an almighty impact, picking up three assists and then scoring a hat-trick against France in the bronze medal game. It was incredibly bizarre he didn’t play any minutes in the semi-finals against Argentina.

Anthony Gordon scored the opener in that game and sparred with Marcus Rashford for a starting berth. Neither were too convincing, however.

Noni Madueke played more minutes than expected but did little to silence those who thought he shouldn’t be in the squad.