England's Golden Generation vs. the Current Crop - comparing the squads

Forwards: Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe vs. Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho

Harry Kane won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup

On paper, England’s Golden Generation was somewhat light when it came to forwards. Michael Owen (Liverpool and Real Madrid) – who broke through as a teenager during the 1998 World Cup – was a genuinely world-class striker in his prime, and he scored in four successive major tournaments for England. However, injuries ruined his career with the Three Lions and took him out of the equation in the 2006 World Cup – arguably England’s best chance of winning a trophy.

Wayne Rooney (Everton and Manchester United) meanwhile was the Golden Generation’s poster-boy; he broke onto the scene as an 18-year old at Euro 2004, scoring 4 goals, and only a broken foot stopped him from potentially inspiring England further than their eventual quarter-final finish.

He is currently England’s all-time leading goalscorer with 53 strikes, but it must be said that his performances in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups were disappointing, as he failed to find the net, and his red card at the former tournament arguably contributed to England’s quarter-final exit to Portugal.

Peter Crouch (Liverpool and Tottenham) and Jermain Defoe (Tottenham) were both used as deputies in the 2006 and 2010 World Cups, and both men scored a single goal respectively during those tournaments and performed admirably given they were never considered truly world-class players at international level.

Southgate’s current squad can boast one of world football’s most fearsome front lines. In the form of Tottenham’s Harry Kane, they can call upon the services of one of the world’s best strikers. Kane’s 6 goals won him the 2018 World Cup’s Golden Boot – the first English player to do so since Gary Lineker at the 1986 tournament – and in just 45 senior caps, he’s already scored 32 goals.

The 2018 World Cup saw Raheem Sterling largely used as Kane’s partner, and while the Manchester City man struggled during that tournament, since Southgate’s switch to a 4-3-3 system he has thrived massively, becoming almost as important to England’s hopes as Kane. Since scoring his first international goals in 3 years against Spain in October 2018, he’s delivered a further 8 to take his tally to 12 overall.

The 4-3-3 system has also allowed Marcus Rashford (Manchester United) and Jadon Sancho (Borussia Dortmund) to come to the forefront, both men competing for a spot alongside Sterling and Kane. Rashford appears to be slightly ahead right now, but both men have performed excellently in the past year, scoring a total of 9 goals between them since the end of the 2018 World Cup.

Despite Rooney and Owen having clear world-class talent, the edge has to go to Southgate’s modern crop here; England have more depth in their forward line than ever before and more to the point, as the main striker Kane has already delivered more in a single tournament than Rooney was able to in six.

Advantage: The Current Crop