‘The country is fueled by the Lionesses’ successes of back-to-back European Championships. That has thrown down a challenge for the men’s team’ Martin Tyler on England’s World Cup 2026 prospects

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Martin Tyler on England’s World Cup chances

The Lionesses succesfully defended their European Championship title this year (Image credit: Getty Images)

“Now the country is fuelled by the Lionesses’ successes of back-to-back European Championships. They did it in a thrilling way because it wasn’t a smooth ride at all.

Thomas Tuchel is preparing to lead England to the 2026 World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

“That has thrown down a challenge for the men’s team. Sarina Wiegman has proved that a foreign coach can work for England – Thomas Tuchel should draw heart from that. However, no-one has done it in the men’s game since the late great Sir Alf Ramsey.

“It’s a hugely competitive field, first to qualify and then be the winner from 48 teams. There will be over 100 games in the finals next year. England won with 16 countries playing – now we’ve got three times that amount.”

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Tyler will be hoping to commentate next summer, which would see him return stateside following his stint calling the action at the 2025 Club World Cup – a tournament which was widely criticised.

“I really enjoyed my commentary stint in the USA,” he continues. “I believe in the concept of the Club World Cup but, in terms of the details of it, I would expect there to be changes going forward. The money was obviously a great attraction for clubs. I think it should be in the calendar, but the question is when?

“Clubs should have a global tournament like national teams. Though it wasn’t billed as a precursor to the FIFA World Cup, there will be useful lessons to come from that next year too.”

Tyler is hoping to commentate at next summer’s tournament (Image credit: Getty Images)

But when it comes to tournaments, nothing can top the World Cup, with Tyler having seen some of the game’s greatest-ever players in action.

“It’s a privilege to have seen all those generations from 1974 through to, hopefully, my next World Cup in 2026,” Tyler says. “What I love about football is that it’s a collective game and everybody is in it together. All parts have to function to be successful and you’re only ever as strong as your weakest link. I couldn’t list the Ballon d’Or winners because it’s the team and not the individuals that means the most to me.

“I saw Pele play live but didn’t commentate on him. I’ve called many matches involving Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and Diego Maradona and Michel Platini before them. Platini was wonderful – I watched him score back-to-back hat-tricks at the European Championship in 1984, which France won. Star players scoop all the individual awards but, to me, football’s value lies in teamwork – TV is the same.”