Ian Wright believes England need two players to ‘step up’ and ‘deliver’ to stand any chance of winning the World Cup.
Thomas Tuchel’s side made a positive start to their World Cup campaign, beating Croatia 4-2 in their opening group game on Wednesday night.
Croatia have proved to be tricky customers for the Three Lions previously but the 2018 runners-up and 2022 semi-finalists could not cope with England’s attacking potency.
Harry Kane scored a first-half brave before Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford were on target in the second half as England took control of Group L and made an ideal start to their World Cup campaign.
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Tuchel is hoping to guide England to their first World Cup trophy since 1966 and Wright believes he is reliant on Kane and Bellingham having strong tournaments.
Kane, already England’s top goalscorer, equalled Gary Lineker as the nation’s leading goalscorer at World Cups during the win over Croatia, while Bellingham underlined his importance to the side with another influential performance in midfield.
Asked whether it was ‘self-evident’ that England would only go far in this World Cup if Kane and Bellingham continue to impress, Wright said on ITV: ‘I think it is, yeah.
‘What we saw tonight is they both stepped up and I’m sure when the games get tougher they will do that again.
‘We’ve got to make sure we are funnelling it into those two because they will deliver, they both will deliver.
‘It’s been a long time since I watched an England team going forward with as much gusto as we saw from them tonight. It was brilliant.
‘Croatia weren’t as good as we thought they might be given their experience but we beat them quite comfortably which was really promising.’
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