England’s starting XI for their first game of Euro 2028 - Ramsdale, Harwood-Bellis, Mola...
- Matt Whiley
- 24 March 2022
The Three Lions could be kicking off the Euros at Wembley in just over six years. Matt Whiley picks the team to help them do it.
It has become increasingly clear that the front-running bid for hosting Euro 2028 is a five-country combined effort from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
A late - and insensitive, based on current events in Ukraine - bid from the Football Union of Russia came in ahead of the deadline which threatens to drag the process out, but the British Isles bid remains the favourite.
In honour of that, Planet Sport has assessed the Three Lions' talent and emerging talent to try to work out who could start for England in the opening match of the 2028 tournament.
GK: Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal)
Age on June 1, 2028: 30
Arsenal keeper Ramsdale recently made his England bow, keeping a clean sheet in a 10-0 thrashing of San Marino in November last year. To call that clash one-sided would have been an understatement, though, so there is as yet no evidence of his senior international ability.
However, Ramsdale's club form for the Gunners has been particularly impressive since becoming the club's most expensive goalkeeper ever last summer.
He has played 24 times in the Premier League for Arsenal and has saved 66 of 89 shots on target he has faced, or 78.7%. That puts him third in the division by that metric, behind only Wolves' Jose Sa and Chelsea's Edouard Mendy. Still aged only 23, Ramsdale has a very bright future ahead of him.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)
Age on June 1, 2028: 29
Alexander-Arnold is widely regarded as one of the best right-backs on the planet, so it's a scary thought how good he could yet become as he approaches his peak. The Liverpudlian has not featured for England as often as many believe he should have, but he certainly has a case to be the Three Lions' first choice right-back for several years to come.
He has 11 assists in 26 Premier League appearances in 2021/22, putting him top of the league's charts. Per 90 minutes this season, Alexander-Arnold features in the top 1% of all global full-backs for assists, progressive passes and shot-creating actions. As he builds up experience, his stats will only continue to improve.
CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis (Stoke City/Manchester City)
Age on June 1, 2028: 26
Harwood-Bellis hails from Stockport, and came through the same development programme as his Manchester City team-mate Phil Foden. He is yet to make a first-team Premier League appearance, but has cut his teeth in the Belgian first division with Anderlecht, and is currently on loan at Stoke City in the Championship, where he has made 14 appearances this season.
England's second tier is renowned for its competitiveness and Harwood-Bellis is gaining that experience in spades.
He has only just turned 20 and having received tutelage from one of Manchester City's finest in Vincent Kompany while he was at Anderlecht, this is a man who looks set to become very good, very quickly.
CB: Clinton Mola (VfB Stuttgart)
Age on June 1, 2028: 27
Mola is another young centre-back who is beginning to make waves on the elite scene. Currently at VfB Stuttgart in Germany's Bundesliga, to whom he transferred from Chelsea's youth academy in 2020, he turned 21 just a matter of days ago and looks like a valuable player already. He has made 11 Bundesliga appearances to date and has represented England at every age group level up to under-21.
He will be hoping to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Jadon Sancho and Jude Bellingham, who transferred to Germany - and in the case of Sancho, returned to England for a colossal fee - to develop their games. Mola may not yet be a household name, but he is certainly one to keep a close eye on.
LB: Ben Johnson (West Ham United)
Age on June 1, 2028: 28
Mark Noble gatecrashed an interview of Johnson's at the end of the 2019/20 season to express his delight at the talent West Ham United were producing from their academy. The Irons' captain's faith was well-founded, with Waltham Forest-born Johnson, who can play at full-back on either flank, exemplifying the excellence emerging from the youth set-up.
Johnson is more of a defensive full-back, in comparison to Alexander-Arnold, and his strengths can be found in his ability to block and clear rather than attack. He does, though, still have a reasonably good rating in progressive passes, showing he can turn it on when required.
He recently made his 50th first-team appearance for West Ham in all competitions, seven months after being named the club's Young Player of the Season.
CM: Conor Gallagher (Crystal Palace/Chelsea)
Age on June 1, 2028: 28
If the likes of Harwood-Bellis and Mola are known only to the engrossed soccer fan, then Gallagher is the polar opposite, with his performances for Crystal Palace this season catching almost everyone's eye. He is only at Selhurst Park temporarily, on loan from Chelsea, but should the Blues decide they can't fit him into their team, he will have an extremely lengthy list of suitors.
He ranks in the top 2% of midfielders for non-penalty goals, and is also far above the global average for completed dribbles and touches in the opposition box, with his ability to run, and run… and run marking him out. Not content with that, he has impressive defensive capabilities too, slotting into a pressing system well, and at just 22, he could quite easily go on to become a frighteningly good all-rounder.
CM: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
Age on June 1, 2028: 24
We've already touched upon Bellingham in the context of Mola moving to Germany to further his development, but the teenage ex-Birmingham midfielder is golden proof that the strategy works for a young player. He signed for Dortmund for £25million in July 2020, and is rapidly blossoming into a truly global talent, with more than 80 appearances for the German outfit's first team in all competitions, alongside ten goals.
Bellingham is in the top 6% of global midfielders in both non-penalty goals and total shots, and that increases to the top 3% in assists, dribbles completed and touches in the opposition box. People mocked Birmingham for retiring the shirt number of a 17-year-old upon his departure, but if he continues on his current path, there really is no upper limit for this precocious player.
CM: Declan Rice (West Ham United)
Age on June 1, 2028: 29
Rice is another member of Ben Johnson's cohort that Mark Noble was so positive about. The 23-year-old midfielder already has almost 200 appearances for West Ham under his belt, with nine goals, and has been a driving factor in their rejuvenation from relegation-threatened strugglers to European contenders.
David Moyes recently noted that a transfer fee of £100million for Rice would be cheap, such is his value to the Irons.
Hoovering up play in the middle of the park with 2.76 interceptions per 90, he can then turn defence into attack in a flash, with a 90.2% pass completion rate and 7.04 progressive carries per 90. He ranks in the top 10% globally in all those metrics, and should he depart West Ham, could easily challenge Jack Grealish for the title of most expensive British player ever.
RW: Harvey Elliott (Liverpool)
Age on June 1, 2028: 25
Elliott has transitioned into more of a midfielder in recent times at Liverpool, with the wingers' spots safely nailed down by some of the game's global stars, but he retains the ability to play out wide too. When he moved to Anfield in 2019 from Fulham having become the youngest debutant in Premier League history, an almighty tussle ensued between the Cottagers and the Reds over his price.
The final fee, set by a tribunal, came out at £4.3 million, which made him the most expensive 16-year-old ever at the time. He enjoyed a productive loan spell at Blackburn Rovers last season and has overcome injury to feature on a few occasions this term for the Liverpool first team, scoring his first goal in a 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round win over Cardiff.
ST: Emre Tezgel (Stoke City)
𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥 📚
— Stoke City FC 🇺🇦 (@stokecity) January 11, 2022
At 16 years and 112 days, Emre Tezgel is the youngest-ever player in our history.#SCFC 🔴⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Rd78YuIzEh
Age on June 1, 2028: 22
It might be a little harsh to say Tezgel isn't even a household name in his own household, but recognition of him, despite his footballing talent, will still be very low.
Born on the edge of the Staffordshire Moorlands, he currently plays for Stoke City's under-18 side, but his talents have seen him moonlight in higher age groups and he recently became the Potters' youngest ever player in a 2-0 FA Cup win over Leyton Orient.
Tezgel's composure with the ball at his feet is quite something, and his mazy dribbling is one of his key attributes, able to bypass defenders comfortably and plant the ball into the bottom corner. He wasn't even one year old when the current youngest ever England player, Theo Walcott, made his debut, but with the progress he is already showing, it's not hard to see why there is quite so much excitement around the bet365 Stadium.
LW: Phil Foden (Manchester City)
Age on June 1, 2028: 28
From Stoke to Stockport and the final member of this long-sighted England XI is Manchester City's Foden.
A versatile player, able to slot in through the middle or out wide with ease, he will be part of England's long-term plans for very many years to come. He possesses an array of tricky abilities, with an impressive goalscoring record and has a fine pass completion record of 81.9%, too.
Foden has already made more than 150 City appearances in all competitions, with 42 goals, and won the Golden Ball for the best player at England's successful under-17 World Cup campaign in 2017. He remains the youngest ever recipient of a Premier League winners' medal and already has two goals in 13 appearances for his country at senior level.
