Let’s face it, the brutal reality is that football isn’t coming home and is not likely to do so for the foreseeable future given the woeful way England played against Andorra at Villa Park.
Thursday, July 30 2026 will be the 60th anniversary of the 4-2 victory against West Germany at Wembley when Geoff Hurst scored that glorious hat-trick, Martin Peters added another great goal and Alan Ball covered every blade of grass on the pristine pitch.
But since then the generational talents of superstars such as Bryan Robson, Kevin Keegan, Gary Lineker, Paul Gascoigne, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and many more have been frittered away by a succession of managers who have failed to take the Three Lions back to the promised land of street parties throughout the nation to celebrate the ultimate victory in sport.
Harry Kane will be granted an unwanted place on that list when England flame out at next summer’s World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada while Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka and others will feel shivers running down their spines as it dawns on them that international football does not offer the same rewards as playing for their clubs.
Frank Skinner and David Baddiel may try to lift spirits by releasing rehashed efforts of their anthem from the confines of their nursing homes but it looks increasingly likely that the Lionesses will continue to win trophies while the men’s team fall annoyingly short.
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Thomas Tuchel was meant to be the answer to Gareth Southgate’s rather uninspiring brand of football but at least the guy in the waistcoat took England to two major finals and the last four in another tournament.
It is possible to win big against ordinary opposition as Bosnia thrashed San Marino 6-0, Belgium made the short trip to Liechtenstein and romped to victory by the same margin while Portugal, Italy, Greece and Iceland all hit five in their opening World Cup qualifiers of the current break.
At least our bet on Andorra to win +3.5 goals came in at 7/4 along with our advice to back under 3.5 goals in the game at 5/2 which will have bought enough ale for those punters who drink to drown their sorrows.
Odds to win the 2026 World Cup
Spain are 5/1 favourites to win the World Cup with William Hill, who along with bet365 have France at 13/2 while Brazil are easy to find at 7/1.
England are incredibly as short as 13/2 fourth favourites with William Hill, Paddy Power and many others and no bigger than 8/1 with Betway to triumph in the final in New Jersey.
However, defending champions Argentina are 9/1 with the latter firm and BetMGM, Portugal are 12/1 with Betfred and BetVictor, Germany can be found at 14/1 with Betway, Netherlands are 20/1 with Ladbrokes, Coral and more and Italy also look better value at 30/1 with BetMGM than Tommy the Tortoise and his lumbering Three Lions.
NFL odds: Monday Night Football
Justin Jefferson is 15/2 with Unibet and 888Sport to score the first touchdown in the final game of the NFL’s opening week when the Minnesota Vikings visit the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field and he is 6/5 with Paddy Power, Sky Bet and others to score six points at any time.
The Bears have new head coach Ben Johnson bidding to turn quarterback Caleb Williams into box-office material but will find the going tough against the Vikes, who finished last season with a 14-3 record and they are 10/11 to win with Paddy Power, Betfred and Betfair and 6/4 with BetVictor to prevail by more than a field goal.
Cricket odds: Vitality Blast Finals Day
Hampshire Hawks are 13/5 favourites with StarSports to be crowned domestic Twenty20 champions at Edgbaston next weekend but our preference is for Lancashire Lightning to emerge victorious at 5/2 with Ladbrokes, Coral and many more besides.
