Mar 25, 2026, 02:03 PM
Open Extended Reactions
England midfielder Adam Wharton is ignoring the plaudits as the World Cup hopeful says there is a long way to fall if you think you are on top of the world.
The 22-year-old Crystal Palace talent is with Thomas Tuchel's squad at St. George's Park as part of the first wave of players in the coach's novel split camp featuring 35 players.
Wharton is hoping to impress and add to his three caps in Friday's friendly against Uruguay, building on his first England start last time out against Albania and ultimately earning a ticket to the United States this summer.
"I think it's every young boy's dream to be able to go to a World Cup to represent the country," he told talkSPORT.
"I'm going to try and impress as much as I can and try and play as well as I can up until the players get on that plane and hopefully I'm one of them.
"I think there's still a few games to play before then so a lot to happen, but hopefully I can do well enough and show that I'm worthy of a ticket on the plane.
"But there's a lot of top players so I'm sure whoever gets the tickets will be worthy of them and definitely deserve to represent the country. I'm sure they'll do the country proud."
Adam Wharton insists he won't let the plaudits he gets go to his head as he prepares for England's friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. Eddie Keogh, Getty Images
Tuchel is always clear with players about whom they are competing with when they link up, with Jordan Henderson and Elliot Anderson providing competition for Wharton in the No. 6 role.
"Obviously I want to play as much as I can and try and help the team, but at the same time Jordan and Elliot are top players playing well this season, so it's not going to be easy," the Blackburn product said.
"Football's a game of opinion, so I'm sure whoever their manager chooses is going to do a great job and will give everything to help the team."
Wharton was part of Sir Gareth Southgate's 26-man selection at Euro 2024 but did not make an appearance at the tournament, despite his eye-catching debut against Bosnia and Herzegovina in one of the warm-up friendlies.
An unfortunate run of injuries played a part in restricting to him just two caps since then, but his form with Palace has attracted admiring glances from clubs like Manchester United and earned praise aplenty.
- England vs. Uruguay: TV channel, kick-off time, live stream
- England 2026 World Cup watch: Who's trending up, who's trending down
Wharton admits "it's hard not to" hear the compliments, but there is little chance of the level-headed midfielder getting ahead of himself.
Asked if there was any comment that stuck with him, he said: "No, not really. Off the top of my head I can't really think of anything that sort of springs to mind, which I think is a good thing because then you might think about it too much.
"You might think, 'Oh, you said this about me, so I'm on top of the world' when in reality if you think you're on top of the world then there's a long way to fall.
"Nothing springs to mind. Just sort of listen to what the coaches say, the staff say because they've got my best interest and they want me to improve and help them as much as possible as well."