So unlike the previous years it looks like most people are sceptical about England's hopes of reaching far in the World Cup...I think that it's a very solid team though.

It does look like England could pass the group stage, but then again even Costa Rica could put up a fight against England in the past.

The squad is really balanced, attack is strong with Vardy and Kane having 25+ goals per season there is also Rashford and Sterling all good talents.
Midfield that can back them up is also pretty good maybe not as good as some other countries have but Wilshare,Hendersen,Alli,Chanberlain,Dier are solid.
The defense is maybe the weakest part of the team but it's not that bad at all, Walker, Stones are part of the best defense in the league...

How far can England go?

I think quarter finals maximum....But would love to see this line-up
Pope
Cahill stones Jones
Walker loftus-cheek dier young
Sterling kane rashford

Loads of ppl prolly disagree but there's some players I would love to see ...
loftus-cheek and pope for example

the team may looked solid but everytime, I think of that iceland game, it's back to reality. one thing is for sure, england in this WC is an underrated/darkhorse team. everyone can expect germany, brazil or france, but england is really hard to tell.

Chamberlain is out by the way, injured. :(

Sorry forgot about that :(

Don't expect much from this England squad. Probably make it to Ro16 at best, or not, less.

We have a good squad, like we always do, but the question marks revolve around what style of football the coach wants us to play. Hodgson wasted our talent last time, so maybe Southgate can do better.

No matter how poor his second half of season was, dropping Wilshere would be almost suicidal IMO. He's their best creative midfielder aside from Lallana who played 2 games all season...

If they go with 3ATB which should be reasonable (knowing that Walker can fill in at RCB and they have good fullbacks), how would they fit Lingard, Alli and Sterling in one team, or would they drop Lingard?

RO16 or quarters is where I see them fail, depends on teams they face. I simply can't see them winning against Germany, Spain, France or even Belgium (tbh lucky that they will face them in group).

I think they have a good team as always they stroll through qualifying. Also there’s mad beef diplomatic tensions between UK and Russia atm, I wonder if they will get a fair shake. One WC bound referee has already been suspended for match fixing. UK refs not selected, Aus refs not selected as we are a partner. Lucky USA did not qualify. On the entertainment factor of it all, it should be great theatre. Get your bets out for upsets not only for England. You’d think r16 for Lions but history also on the young teams shoulders. 2cents

If I see Kane by the corner flag then all hope is lost. Group stage will not be easy but we will go through. 16th will depend on the opponent but my guess is we will be out before quarter finals. I really hope that England can learn something from spurs and Liverpool tactics of playing because they fit to the caliber of players. Instead of making them play different football than to their club style, why not allow them to play aggressive counter attacking football. We have fast players that can hit hard and if we play possessional football then we are done again.

As ever not exactly expectant of success but glad to see the exciting selection from Southgate - kudos to him for having the bravery to usher players like Loftus-Cheek in over Lallana.

I'm very interested to see how loftus-cheek performs. If he has a good tournament i can see him claiming a place in the Chelsea side, which I for one would love to see.

I think their ceiling is the Ro16. I don't expect them to make the quarter-finals unless they get a favorable draw.

I think their ceiling is the Ro16.

That could be changing, if not this tournament, then perhaps the next. This is from 2017:

http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/england/448/blog/post/3249789/englands-roaring-success-young-lions-incredible-year-at-youth-level

May 19: UEFA Under-17 Championship runners-up (lost 4-1 on penalties to Spain after 2-2 draw)
June 10: Toulon Tournament winners (beat Ivory Coast 5-3 on penalties in final after 1-1 draw)
June 11: FIFA U-20 World Cup winners (beat Venezuela 1-0 in final)
June 17: UEFA Under-21 Championship semifinalists (lost 4-3 on penalties to Germany after 2-2 draw)
July 15: UEFA Under-19 Championship winners (beat Portugal 2-1 in final)
Oct. 28: FIFA U-17 World Cup winners (beat Spain 5-2 in final)

@Croatian:

No matter how poor his second half of season was, dropping Wilshere would be almost suicidal IMO. He's their best creative midfielder aside from Lallana

I think the second half of this season shows instead why they loaned him to Bournemouth the season before. I'm not just hating on him because he plays for Arsenal, but I just don't agree that he should be there ahead of, say, Alli or Lingard.

What would you say he brings to the team that others don't?

Here's the england's squad. I'm wondering why too many defenders and lack of midfielders. Even though some players are versatile, I don't like the idea of choosing only 5 midfielders. Are they playing 5 3 2 lately? .

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley).

Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Danny Rose (Tottenham Hotspur), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham Hotspur), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Midfielders: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur), Eric Dier (Tottenham Hotspur), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea).

Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal).

@kyoekyra: I think you're right in that we're going to focus on 5 at the back, with Walker and Rose etc as forward wing-backs.

Wilshire is overrated in my opinion. He's become pretty average and has random Sparks of skill but that's it.

England always has a solid line up in paper but the main issue is that these players end up getting wasted at their clubs (for the most part). Spain, Germany and France always incorporate their best players to their best teams. In England they just import players to stick in the top teams.

They will work.out at Ro16 or quarter finals depending who they play against.

@Kyo to be fair, Delph and Young are midfielders converted to left backs. Young more so than Delph.

@lodatz ok. so it's 5 3 2 or 3 5 2 (with 2 WBs) then.

@raimon Yeah, I know they are mid converted full backs but I still find their midfield selection is weak. Dier is more of a defender than an attacker and RLC is unproven. So, they are down to Alli, Henderson and Lingard for creating chances.

They also have only 4 true CB too, Cahill, Jones, Maguire, and Stones which is barely enough for 3 men back line. Again, you can argue that they can play Dier there which will make their already weaken midfield weaker.

@raimon I think the main problem with England is lack of creativity. Most top england clubs always heavily rely on foreign players for that part.

City - De Bruyne, Silva
Arsenal - Ozil
Spurs - Eriksen
Chelsea - Fabregas

@kyoekyar:

I think the main problem with England is lack of creativity.

It's true that we don't have a Silva or KdB, but if Southgate can get Henderson or Alli to serve as the kind of metronome that Eriksen provides for Tottenham, then we might flourish anyway, and base our play around wide-forwards and pacey full-backs.

Sterling, Kane and Vardy are not a bad front-line to have our wingbacks interacting with, for instance.

I think our biggest tests will actually be against teams who park the bus. That's where the creativity angle comes in; we don't have clever enough feet to pick the locks of a packed defense. On the counter, though, against the big boys, I think England will play to a higher level.

Honestly, I don't see them progress beyond RO16 or quarter though. Colombia can knock out them in RO16 if Colombia top their group since I consider Belgium as group winner in England's group.