World Cup 2026: England 13/2 to end 60 years of hurt after Tuchel's first defeat | OneFootball

World Cup 2026

England are 13/2 to win the World Cup which begins on 11 June 2026

With exactly one year to go before the World Cup 2026 begins England are the fourth favourites in the outright market on the Betfair Sportsbook...

England are 13/2 to end 60 years of hurt and win the 2026 World Cup which begins exactly one year from today (11 June).

The Three Lions are behind joint favourites France and Spain 11/2 and Brazil 6/1 who qualified last night with a victory in Carlo Ancelotti's first match in charge.

Defending champions Argentina are 8/1 to win the tournament, which takes place in the US, Canada and Mexico, while Germany are 9/1.

Thomas Tuchel's men have won all three of their qualifying matches so far. However, an uninspiring 1-0 away to Andorra on Saturday, followed by a 3-1 defeat in last night's friendly against Senegal at the City Ground, raises plenty of questions about whether they are going forwards or backwards under the German.

England went ahead, thanks to Harry Kane's early goal, but surrendered their lead in the first-half before being outplayed and conceding twice in the second. They were booed at the final whistle and it was a sour end to the season.

Can England win the World Cup under Tuchel?

Tuchel took charge of England in January with a simple brief - win next year's World Cup. His work with Chelsea, who he transformed from Premier League strugglers to Champions League winners in the space of five months, indicated that he could have an immediate impact.

After four matches the signs are not encouraging. International football is a different challenge to club management and it will take time for the new manager to make his mark. After last night's defeat, Tuchel said there was "no need to panic".

He also pointed out that he had made many changes to the team, fielding an experimental starting 11 with Trevoh Chalaboh and Levi Colwill in central defence.

But fans were entitled to expect better from England's June fixtures. Tuchel's predecessor Gareth Southgate took England to consecutive European Championship finals as well as a World Cup semi-final. After England were defeated by Spain in the Euro 2024 final, the FA looked for a manager who could help them get over the line at a major tournament.

Tuchel may yet be that manager. Southgate suffered set-backs in friendlies and the Nations League before clicking at major tournaments. It is worth remembering too that England often perform poorly at home at this time of year. Twelve months ago they lost 1-0 to Iceland and in 2022 they went down 4-0 to Hungary at Molineux.

Tuchel now has the summer to figure out how to get the best out of the current crop of England players. Their next match is a World Cup qualifier at home to Andorra on 6 September before they travel to Serbia three days which should be the Three Lions' toughest test in a competitive match under the new manager.