{"id":2820,"date":"2016-04-30T20:27:21","date_gmt":"2016-04-30T14:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820"},"modified":"2016-04-30T20:27:21","modified_gmt":"2016-04-30T14:57:21","slug":"harry-kane-england-fifa-world-cup-2018-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2820","title":{"rendered":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

E<\/span><\/p><\/div>

ngland faced Belgium in a dead rubber at Kaliningrad, in a game that nobody wanted to win. Since the winner of the match <\/a>would potentially get the tougher draw in the further rounds, both teams made bulk changes to their first XI like it was a Big Bazaar exchange offer sale. Tackles flew thick and fast as inconsequential substitutes collected yellow cards like candies on Halloween. But one man didn\u2019t get the memo, as Adnan Janujaz thumped the ball past Jordan Pickford to give Belgium an unwanted victory.\n\nEngland will be happy to lose this battle, because they could still win the war.\n\n\u201cIs this going to be England\u2019s World Cup<\/a>?\u201d is the international version of \u201cIs this going to be Arsenal\u2019s year?\u201d In the run-up to every edition, fans are convinced that England will be unbeatable. Yet, what England historically boasted in quality and big names, was undone by bizarre blunders, bad luck, and colossal mismanagement as they became the laughing stock of many a World Cup. Supporting England is like inviting yourself to a party full of stress, sadness, pity, and heartbreak. It\u2019s like being in a relationship that isn\u2019t working but you just can\u2019t walk away from it.\n\nI still cannot fathom how a midfield of Beckham, Gerrard, Scholes, and Lampard didn\u2019t win a World Cup<\/a>. It\u2019s like watching the combination of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah lose an election. As that golden generation bowed out, it was Wayne Rooney\u2019s spirited generation that took over and everyone thought they had it in them to go the distance. But it would just never happen, like MNS winning a major election in Maharashtra.\n\nThis is why the build-up to this tournament was special. The year 2018 <\/a>marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Until the first kickoff whistle blew.\n\nPrior to the World Cup, fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad. For once, they walked into their first game unfettered by the shackles of high hopes. There is a golden sales mantra that states \u201cUnder-promise, over-deliver\u201d. It is exactly what England <\/a>has done so far in Russia.\n\n

\u201cHurri-kane\u201d puns have made it to newspaper headlines and the British media, much like desi parents, have started ramping up the pressure.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nHarry Kane\u2019s young team dazzled in their group stage games against Tunisia and Panama, thrashing the latter to a 6-1 score line. Solid in defence, controlling in midfield, and finding the back of the net as often as Arvind Kejriwal<\/a> has tendered an apology lately. The last time a bunch of English lads showed such flair, communication, and joy with their art, The Beatles were still together.\n\nThe England <\/a>national team has come a full circle \u2013 with zero expectations prior to the tournament, to two good performances, to a truckload of expectations overnight. \u201cHurri-kane\u201d puns have made it to newspaper headlines and the British media, much like desi parents, have started ramping up the pressure. The old whispers of \u201cCan they go all the way?\u201d have begun.\n\nOnce again, everyone associated with the England football <\/a>team \u2013 the fans, the press, the nation have convinced themselves that this is the team that is going to get them the cup. Once again, it is time to ask the heartbreaking, soul-crushing, and nostalgia-inducing question \u2013 Is this, finally, going to be England\u2019s World Cup?\n\nThey are young, they are playing well, and they have an easy draw. No pressure, but you better win the goddamn World Cup now.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":2821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[5581,5708,1269,396,5709,1307,3278,3218],"class_list":["post-2820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-cup","tag-david-becham","tag-england","tag-football","tag-harry-kane","tag-russia","tag-squad","tag-world"],"yoast_head":"\nFootball\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-04-30T14:57:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1520\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hardik Rajgor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hardik Rajgor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hardik Rajgor\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec\"},\"headline\":\"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-30T14:57:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820\"},\"wordCount\":612,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1530256934.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"cup\",\"david becham\",\"England\",\"football\",\"harry kane\",\"Russia\",\"squad\",\"world\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820\",\"name\":\"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1530256934.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-04-30T14:57:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec\"},\"description\":\"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1530256934.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/1530256934.jpg\",\"width\":1520,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?p=2820#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arr\u00e9\",\"description\":\"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.201.39.237\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec\",\"name\":\"Hardik Rajgor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hardik Rajgor\"},\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/13.207.105.184\\\/?author=164\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?","description":"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?","og_description":"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.","og_url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820","og_site_name":"Arr\u00e9","article_published_time":"2016-04-30T14:57:21+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1520,"height":850,"url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hardik Rajgor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?","twitter_description":"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hardik Rajgor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820"},"author":{"name":"Hardik Rajgor","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec"},"headline":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?","datePublished":"2016-04-30T14:57:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820"},"wordCount":612,"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg","keywords":["cup","david becham","England","football","harry kane","Russia","squad","world"],"articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820","name":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg","datePublished":"2016-04-30T14:57:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec"},"description":"2018 marked a rare World Cup where England arrived sans their usual hype and unwarranted swagger. Fans and pundits didn\u2019t have high expectations from this young England squad \u2013 until the first kickoff whistle blew.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg","width":1520,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2820#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Football\u2019s Eternal Question: Is This Going to be England\u2019s World Cup?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#website","url":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/","name":"Arr\u00e9","description":"In every person lies a creator and in every creator, an enterprise.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/#\/schema\/person\/e182d0f2221a33f1b6e7dc73de64ceec","name":"Hardik Rajgor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cba71439762f501062dfa197aa35017449438047ccffe420ac56824331cbb01?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hardik Rajgor"},"url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?author=164"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530256934.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}