In 70 appearances for the England national team, Marcus Rashford has participated in 16 matches in major tournaments. Coach Gareth Southgate did not call him to EURO 2024, but the 2026 World Cup will mark the fifth time the 28-year-old striker has participated in a major international tournament finals.
Rashford has played 2 matches at EURO 2016, 5 matches at the 2018 World Cup, 5 matches at EURO 2020 and 4 matches at the 2022 World Cup. However, out of those 16 appearances, 14 times he was brought on from the bench.
Rashford's only two starts in major tournaments were against Belgium at the 2018 World Cup and Wales at the 2022 World Cup. Notably, both matches took place in the group stage when England had already qualified for the knockout round.
Southgate has never really placed complete faith in Rashford in the most important matches. In the end, he even removed this striker from the EURO 2024 squad. Therefore, the 2026 World Cup is considered an opportunity for Rashford to prove his worth.
The pressure on the player born in 1997 is even greater as the club-level future is still questionable. Anthony Gordon's sudden joining Barcelona for a fee of about 70 million pounds makes many people associate him with Rashford's case.
From Rashford as well as Barcelona, both affirmed that the Gordon deal does not affect the future of the English striker. However, it will be very difficult to ignore the comparison when Barca is not willing to spend about 26 million pounds to buy Rashford outright but accepts to spend a much larger amount of money for Gordon.
Gordon is 3 years younger than Rashford and has a higher resale potential. However, whether he is really superior to the Man United striker is still an open question.
The answer may be given by Thomas Tuchel when he announces the starting lineup for England's opening match of the 2026 World Cup against Croatia on June 17. In the harsh weather conditions in North America, reserve players will certainly play an important role, but Tuchel's initial choice is still of great significance.
Although he has played more than 500 matches for the club and national team, Rashford is still a name that needs to prove many things. Rashford's past season in Spain was positively rated with 14 goals and 14 assists, but it seems that is still not enough to completely convince the top European teams.
After more than a decade of playing at his peak, Rashford still possesses the qualities of a top star. If he can make a strong impression at the 2026 World Cup and win an important position in Tuchel's plan, not only England will benefit but his club-level future may also open up more attractive opportunities.
With rich experience and a desire to assert himself, the 2026 World Cup may be an opportunity for Rashford to truly step onto the stage for the first time in the "Three Lions" jersey.
