England turns past defeats into motivation

The last time England won a major tournament was the 1966 World Cup. In the past decade, the Three Lions have played well when reaching the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup and twice reaching the finals of EURO 2020, 2024. However, they have not won the championship.

The historical burden and pressure from the expectations of the fans are what the England national team players understand very well when participating in the 2026 World Cup.

We know there is an expectation, but the important thing is that we also expect ourselves. So we just try to ignore all the noise and we know what we want to achieve. We know what we need to do when participating in the 2026 World Cup, and we always keep that in our minds," Bukayo Saka shared with FIFA.

Two years ago, Saka was a member of the England team who lost to Spain in the EURO 2024 final with a score of 1-2. At EURO 2020, Saka was one of the three England players who missed in the penalty shootout, helping Italy win the match.

According to Saka, instead of letting himself be defeated by those painful defeats, he turned that into positive motivation. He said: "With everything that has been gone through, England entered the tournament with the confidence that they can win. We take past defeats as motivation.

Saka will head to the World Cup with a still radiant spirit after helping Arsenal end 22 years of waiting to win the Premier League title along with other England players such as Declan Rice, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke.

In addition, the England team also has many other players who had the joy of winning titles last season with the club such as James Trafford, Nico O'Reilly, Marc Guehi and John Stones raising the FA Cup and League Cup with Man City; Harry Kane winning a Bundesliga and German National Cup double with Bayern Munich, Marcus Rashford becoming La Liga champion with Barcelona or the trio Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa of Aston Villa experiencing success in the Europa League.

I see that England has many strengths, besides that there is a lot of desire and passion for victory. That is a great balance and is necessary for the team.

England is a team with many talented players, but at the same time there is high competition. That is very good for the whole team, creating a great environment and I think we are all improving," Saka said.

England also benefited from having an experienced coach like Thomas Tuchel. The German coach led the England team to set a record in the qualifying campaign, winning all eight matches without conceding a goal.

I think he is a great coach and since coming here, he has had very clear demands for the team. Tuchel is a person who always aims for victory and that is also what the whole team wants," the Arsenal star shared.

Saka understands better than anyone that anything can happen in a major tournament like the 2026 World Cup. After experiencing past failures despite approaching titles, he and his teammates want to reap glory at the 2026 World Cup, following in the footsteps of achievements that predecessors such as Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst made at the 1966 World Cup.

The success of the England team in 1966 set standards for us and clearly we want to follow their footsteps. That is a dream and that is what we are aiming for. It would be special if we could repeat that achievement," Saka concluded.