Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire shine brightly despite England’s World Cup exit

Mario Mandzukic and Croatia completed their comeback in extra time, defeating England to advance to their first-ever World Cup final.

Football won’t be coming home to England as Croatia found their spark in the second half and Extra Time to down the Three Lions and move on to the final.
Mario Mandzukic broke English hearts in extra time to send Croatia through to their first-ever World Cup final after a gruelling match in Moscow.

Ivan Perisic’s poked goal had cancelled out Kieran Trippier’s spectacular early free kick to send the match beyond regulation, and Mandzukic pounced on the Inter forward’s header to fire low beyond Jordan Pickford for what proved to be the winner.

Positives
England have made history and reignited the passion of a nation by reaching the semi-finals…

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England’s Jordan Pickford unaffected by Thibaut Courtois criticism

With Croatia and England set to meet in the World Cup semifinals, the FC crew explain why the Three Lions will likely prove too much for Croatia.

Raheem Sterling fails to make the cut for Stewart Robson’s combined XI for England and Croatia, so who made it ahead of him?
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has insisted that he is unaffected by criticism from Belgium No. 1 Thibaut Courtois, claiming that his time in non-league football during six loan spells earlier in his career made him immune to off-the-field distractions.
Pickford, who had not made a competitive appearance for England prior to the World Cup, goes into Wednesday’s semifinal against Croatia in Moscow as one of the outstanding keepers of the tournament, following a series of impressive performances…

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Harry Maguire stars, Jordan Pickford stands tall as England reach semifinals

Goals from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli and key saves from Jordan Pickford saw England defeat Sweden to reach their first World Cup semifinal since 1990.

ESPN FC’s Stewart Robson examines the keys to England’s quarterfinal win over Sweden and sees no reason why they can’t reach the World Cup final now.

Before England bounced Sweden, a hatful of ESPN FC correspondents weigh in on whether “it’s coming home” in the latest episode of Project Russia.
Goals in each half from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli helped England secure their first World Cup semifinal appearance since 1990 with a convincing 2-0 victory over Sweden in Samara.
Maguire powered in Ashley Young’s corner in the 30th minute, and Alli made sure of the win when he nodded in Jesse Lingard’s floated cross just before the hour mark, while Jordan Pickford was in inspired form at the other end to prevent Sweden from threatening a comeback.

Positives
One of the most thrilling England…

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England’s Jordan Pickford: ‘Our mentality is to win’ vs. Belgium

England’s Jordan Pickford insists the squad want to beat Belgium to keep their winning mentality going into the World Cup knockout stages.

Belgium’s Toby Alderweireld believes England have improved massively since Gareth Southgate took over and has created a positive mentality in the squad.

Belgium’s Roberto Martinez insists he must rotate his team against England to make sure his squad is fresh for the knockout stages.
Jordan Pickford said England do not fear any potential World Cup knockout opponents because of his teammates’ talent and praised captain Harry Kane for his finishing in the tournament so far.
England face Belgium in Kaliningrad, Russia, on Thursday with both teams having qualified for the round of 16 with a game to spare, but with Germany and Brazil struggling in their groups, there have been suggestions that finishing second in Group G may yield a more favourable path in the knockout stages.
Managers…

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England’s Jordan Pickford: Tunisia pose real challenge in World Cup opener

England’s Jordan Pickford says he’ll be ready to go for England’s World Cup opener against Tunisia if selected.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho thinks England have the quality and experience to win the World Cup.

Stewart Robson predicts how the Three Lions will line up ahead of their opening match against Tunisia.
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has told ESPN FC that his side cannot underestimate Tunisia in their World Cup opener as he has first-hand experience of the dangers presented by former Sunderland teammate Wahbi Khazri.
Khazri, who spent last season on loan at Rennes from Sunderland, is one of only a handful of Tunisia players to have played in Europe’s top leagues, with the majority of coach Nabil Maaloul’s squad based in their domestic league.
The attacking midfielder spent the 2016-17 season…

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Jordan Pickford handed England’s No. 1 shirt at World Cup

Wales manager Ryan Giggs assesses England’s hopes of success at the World Cup.

Harry Kane, Kieran Trippier and Gary Cahill defended Raheem Sterling after the winger was criticised for having a gun tattooed on his leg.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford appears set to start for England at the World Cup after being handed the No. 1 shirt.
FIFA released the final squads of each of the World Cup’s 32 teams on Monday, complete with shirt numbers, and Pickford was listed as No. 1 while Stoke City’s Jack Butland is No. 13. Burnley’s uncapped keeper Nick Pope is No. 23.
England manager Gareth Southgate had earlier indicated that Pickford could be his first-choice goalkeeper after saying his selection in Saturday’s…

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England’s Jordan Pickford prepared to take or save winning penalty in Russia

Jordan Pickford is ready to be England’s penalty hero in Russia and is just as prepared to try his luck from 12 yards as he is to make a match-winning save.
Three Lions goalkeepers do not just carry the hopes of the nation with them when they land at a tournament, they also find themselves at the centre of the country’s preoccupation with spot-kicks.
The English fascination with — and fear of — penalties dates back 28 years and includes six agonising defeats from seven shootouts.
Their solitary…

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England World Cup squad predictions: Rashford in, but no Wilshere

Despite England’s recent struggles, Ian Darke and the ESPN panel are cautiously optimistic about England’s World Cup chances.
Gareth Southgate is set to announce his 23-man World Cup squad on Wednesday, with the England manager determined to name his travelling party early in order to ensure full focus on the challenge ahead in Russia.
So he should he pick? And who will he end up selecting? Here is the ESPN FC selection, and the squad Southgate is expected to name.

GOALKEEPERS

Gareth Southgate has a headache in goal with a lack of tournament experience among his options, with the exception of Joe Hart, whose form on…

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Evergreen Gianluigi Buffon highlights England’s goalkeeping quandary

Gareth Southgate admits England have a problem with their goalkeepers.
Gianluigi Buffon was winning his 176th cap for Italy on Friday night, just as Jordan Pickford was earning his second for England.
Gareth Southgate has a number of issues to resolve as England manager before his team begin their World Cup campaign against Tunisia in Volgograd in June and the vast gulf in experience between his best goalkeeper and Italy’s No. 1 highlights the first problem he comes to when filling out his teamsheet.
Buffon, despite announcing his international retirement last November…

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Hart faces heartbreak but Rashford, Sterling, Kane a fearsome England trio

ESPN FC’s Shaka Hislop discusses England’s goalkeeping dilemma for the World Cup.

ESPN FC’s Shaka Hislop discusses England’s goalkeeping dilemma for the World Cup.
With under three months to go before the World Cup, Gareth Southgate is trying to figure out his best England team.
Here’s how we think England will line-up against Tunisia on June 18 …

ESPN FC’s predicted XI for England at the World Cup.
Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford
If you cast your mind back to last summer, the prevailing wisdom was that Everton had “won” the transfer market. As it turned out, only Pickford represented much of an upgrade on what they already had, and while he hasn’t been flawless in the intervening months, he’s done enough to…

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