I will accept Djed Spence into my soul as an Englishman and rate Tottenham Hotspur from this point forward

I'm at a loss for words to describe the level of delusion involved

One of my most memorable football matches ever.

Great match, full of spirit. The build up was so intense, with the stadium’s altitude and the history behind it. And then going to the pub at 2am to watch it, with every pub in the area absolutely rammed, everyone on the streets celebrating at 4am. Bunch of strangers chatting to each other and hugging. Even the pub security was in there celebrating and jumping around and chanting.

Completely unforgettable. 10/10

Emma smith BBC Sport Journalist

A fight between England Under-16 players at a camp in Turkey was caused by an "internal matter" which was "quickly resolved", says the FA.

An online clip from the camp in late-2025 shows two players fighting in a hotel room, while several others film and encourage them.

The FA said the issue has been settled and no further action will be taken.

An FA spokesperson said: "We were made aware of an internal matter during an Under-16s camp in October 2025. This was quickly resolved at the time."

The clip, which is about a minute long, shows a boy wearing official England kit grab a phone from a boy who is lying on the bed in a hotel room.

The pair scuffle over the phone, leading to punches and kicks as well as grappling.

At one point the boy who attempted to take the phone tries to get the other boy in a headlock, before dragging him around the room and throwing him on the floor.

The fight took place while the Under-16s were in Sedi.

They played Turkey, Wales and Portugal in October and November 2025.

5th- late 30s. Was probably the best team in the world, but never got to showcase it as England didn’t compete in the initial three World Cups. Most notable game was the 3-2 win vs Italy in 1934, spearheaded by a young Matthews, just after Italy had won the World Cup. The match was dubbed the “real World Cup final” by the media.

4th- Bobby Robson’s England. Done well in two World Cups. Obviously robbed in ‘86 by VARgentina, but also lesser known vs West Germany at Italia 90 as well (England winner incorrectly disallowed). Some great players, Lineker, Barnes, Gazza, but brought down by poor European Championship campaigns.

3rd- late 90s England. Should have won a home Euros in 96, Germany weren’t that great and the Czechs were waiting in the final. But the wins vs the Netherlands and Spain remain two of the best England have had in tournaments. Won our beloved Le Tournoi trophy a year after before being robbed again against VARgentina in ‘98.

2nd- current England. Back to back Euro finals, only losing one on pens, 3rd in the 2026 World Cup + so many other great moments. Frustrating not to have got over the line, but objectively the second most successful group of players we’ve had.

1st- mid to late 60s England. Not as consistent across multiple tournaments as the current side, but can’t argue with the only side to actually win something being 1st. So many great players and one of the only times England were a tactically innovative side, with the diamond they played in 66.

Thoughts??

Just saw this post on X, and couldn't believe it. Bellingham can't even congratulate his teammate and lifelong friend without getting hate. I don't even think it's racism anymore, it's a mental illness.

So we all know Cape Verde were surprisingly strong and fell just short against Argentina.

But I feel if Argentina didn’t get the favourable decisions they had gotten all tournament, I honestly could see Cape Verde beating Argentina

That would mean they’d face Egypt, who again I could see Cape Verde making it through

Following the route England and Cape Verde could have possibly met at the semis with England just about winning

The entire timeline wouldn’t be filled with absurd controversies

Most other games would’ve gone how they did
(Spain taking France out etc) but I think the world would’ve tuned in in numbers out of pure excitement

I asked google to simulate the World Cup but without the favourable decisions towards Argentina in the knockouts
It pitted England v Cape Verde in the semis
Spain v England in the final but ultimately Spain taking the trophy

If this had happened I don’t think many of us England fans would be angry at that feat, but definitely heartbroken being so close.

On the plus side the way England and France handled the post game was great and I believe we would have seen that if we faced Spain too

I feel that if Ngumoha plays the first few games for Liverpool

Myles Lewis Skelly given how much Tuchel has liked him

Alex Scott since I don’t want to see Rice on a football pitch till October

Trent since every right back is crocked

Wharton since surely Henderson at 36 and recovering a broken arm won’t be in the next squad

England didn’t face that many good teams in the euros and Spain dominated the finals. But England beat mexico Norway and would have beat Argentina if mistakes weren’t made.

Everyone was giving him shit for leaving Palmer, Foden and Gibbs-White at home. Well, England didnt struggle in attack during this tournament, so that decision didn’t seem to backfire at all…Gordon and Rogers made some key contributions actually. Madueke didn‘t, but he also didn‘t do anything wrong either.

Spence fully justified his selection and Burn did a great job in that Mexico game when he came on.

Tuchel made a horrible strategic choice in the semi, but he fully justified his squad selections overall.

Edit #1: In response to those who say our attack struggled...they didn’t against Croatia and Mexico, the two games when the team played the way Tuchel instructed. We struggled against teams who play a low block, as we always do and always will because low-blocks are very hard to play against at this level. And even then, we won all of those games except Ghana.

In response to ”We only did well offensively because Bellingham and Kane had blinders!”…Tuchel’s conduct in the qualifiers for the AM spot is partly why Bellingham played the way he did. He had a chip on his shoulder and something to prove because Tuchel communicated clearly that he wasn’t undroppable.

WB and CM are valid points, but we didn’t go out of the tournament because of those deficits. We went out because the certified England choke-factor came good once again, as it usually does.

Hello everyone,

Not sure if we’ve moved past the World Cup already but I’ve left a part of myself in Mexico City. Did all the locations with England but Mexico was an experience I’ll never get over.

Took a picture, I think this was just into the 2nd half maybe after some fireworks. The night sky and the residue smoke made it look moody as hell.

All the best!

This is ridiculous, we haven’t hosted since 1966.

People were flooding social media with false reports that English people/fans were attacking Italians after the match as revenge and people were spreading it without any due diligence.

They represent a very different idea of what sport itself is supposed to be, and that's why we can't stand them.

Viveza criolla: the belief that cleverness means finding every advantage, exploiting every weakness, and doing whatever it takes to win. In that mindset, deceiving officials, unsettling opponents, and pushing the boundaries are not seen as shameful, but as signs of intelligence and competitive instinct.

This isn't unique to Argentina, but they push it to the absolute limit in practice, and they go a step beyond:

"The result matters more than the legitimacy of the contest."

That is where our moral objection comes from. When an advantage comes from deceiving the game's authority rather than beating the opponent within the contest, the Argies celebrate it as a moral good.

Meanwhile the roots of modern British sport are completely antithetical to this. The Victorian ideal of sport was that it was a test of character as much as ability. The point wasn’t just about winning, it was about discipline, honour and self-control while competing. You were proving you were the better person as well as the better player. Winning through deception or unfair advantage was seen as making the victory less meaningful.

The World Cup final felt like the ultimate clash of those two ideas. After years of pushing the boundaries and benefiting from a certain amount of tolerance, Argentina finally found themselves punished for that style. And when the game turned against them, the violent scenes we saw after the final whistle exposed their principles to the world - victory is something to be achieved at all costs, and defeat is something to resist rather than accept.

It's an ugly philosophy, and one that preys on poor enforcement of the rules, and more importantly, lack of enforcement of the spirit of the rules. Sport is not merely a contest of outcomes. It is a contest conducted under a shared moral framework. Winning by exploiting weaknesses in that framework can be considered a failure to respect the purpose of the contest itself. To allow Argentina to continue to pursue their negative sporting philosophy at the world cup denigrates and destroys the very purpose of it.