In just a few weeks' time, England's place at the 2026 World Cup could be rubber-stamped, as the Three Lions have customarily swept aside the competition in UEFA Qualifying Group K to amass 15 points from a possible 15 so far.
Thomas Tuchel oversaw a pair of professional wins over Albania and Latvia before two uninspiring success against basement boys Andorra, which came either side of a historically significant friendly defeat to Senegal at the City Ground over the summer.
However, just as the critics' voices were growing louder, the Three Lions belatedly found a ruthless attacking edge under the former Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain head coach, who masterminded a 5-0 annihilation of Serbia on the evening of September 9.
Now seven points clear of second-placed Albania on the same number of games and eight better off than Serbia - who have a match in hand - England will qualify for the 2026 World Cup with two games to spare if they defeat Latvia on October 14 and Serbia somehow fail to best Andorra.
As the 2026 World Cup comes closer into view, Sports Mole takes a look at how England could line up for their opening match of the tournament.
England possible first World Cup XI (version 2)
While Dean Henderson may now be showing off his shiny FA Cup winners' medal, Jordan Pickford's status as England's undisputed number one should not come under any threat, save for a disastrous 2025-26 campaign with Everton.
Moving on from the days of Kyle Walker and Luke Shaw, Tuchel could face the best kind of dilemmas in the full-back areas, where Myles Lewis-Skelly, Lewis Hall, Tino Livramento, Djed Spence, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James will all put their names in the hat.
Lewis-Skelly is currently being kept out of the Arsenal XI by Riccardo Calafiori, whose overlapping runs could suit new signing Eze far better than the English teenager, so his spot in the starting XI is certainly far from secure.
Should Lewis-Skelly fail to force Calafiori out of the Gunners' lineup on a regular basis, Livramento or Spence - who is shining for Tottenham Hotspur - may be well-placed to take advantage.
On the opposite side, James's next injury is seemingly always just around the corner, but the Tuchel favourite is already proving his worth to the Three Lions under his former Chelsea boss and is currently on course to start over Alexander-Arnold, who is yet to set the world alight at Real Madrid.
A fit Marc Guehi is a certainty in defence - the Crystal Palace captain could very well be a Liverpool player by the time the World Cup comes around - and owing to Harry Maguire's recent lack of football at Manchester United, Dan Burn is better-placed to join Guehi at the time of writing.
Even a 70% Declan Rice would be one of the first names on the teamsheet, and if Palace lynchpin Adam Wharton goes from strength to strength again in 2025-26, expect him to emerge as a serious contender to start alongside the Arsenal man.
A Rice-Wharton double pivot would allow Jude Bellingham to strut his stuff in the number 10 slot, likely with Bukayo Saka and the effervescent Eberechi Eze either side of him as Cole Palmer and Phil Foden are restricted to the fringes.
Already boasting eight World Cup goals from the 2018 and 2022 editions, Harry Kane needs to strike three times in 2026 to become England's all-time leading scorer at the men's tournament, surpassing Gary Lineker in the process.
ID:575046:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect5587: