Inglaterra lleva meses preparándose para el Mundial del próximo verano, gracias a la facilidad de su fase de clasificación. Sin embargo, la tarea de seleccionar los partidos de preparación resulta complicada para el seleccionador Thomas Tuchel.
A diferencia de otros de los principales contendientes, Inglaterra ha estado privada de competición de alto nivel desde que perdió contra España en la final de la Eurocopa 2024.
Ahora, los Tres Leones deben planificar sus dos partidos amistosos de marzo, además de los posibles encuentros en Norteamérica antes de su primer partido del Mundial, y hay que tomar decisiones sobre contra quién jugarán.
Inglaterra ansía enfrentarse a rivales de primer nivel.
England’s relegation to League B of the 2024 Uefa Nations League put them at a disadvantage.
While the likes of France, Italy, Belgium and Netherlands were playing against each other in League A, England faced three teams from lower down the world rankings – Greece (ranked 48th in September 2024), Republic of Ireland (62nd) and Finland (64th).
England won five of those six games, with a surprise home loss to Greece the only dropped points.
Coupled with a World Cup qualifying campaign where England have won every match without conceding a goal, there is a concern they could arrive at next summer’s tournament undercooked.
It is not like the Nations League could be truly used to experiment either, as Lee Carsley took interim charge of that campaign after Gareth Southgate’s departure.
England had been planning to play two friendlies in the United States in June this year, but that was scuppered by being drawn into a World Cup group of five teams rather than four.
While England were left with two free dates for friendlies, other confederations were largely busy with their own World Cup qualifiers.
With Serbia, ranked 36th, the strongest team in England’s qualifying group, it means Senegal (19th at the time) are the highest-ranked team the Three Lions have played since Euro 2024. And they lost that game at the City Ground 3-1.
The highest-ranked team England have beaten in that time is Wales (30th) – 3-0 in a friendly in October.