England’s best XI – based statistically on WhoScored ratings from 2026-27

Setembro 25, 2026 lojamais44@gmail.com

We’re about to get our first glimpse of England post-World Cup, but who actually deserves to be in Thomas Tuchel’s side?

England are up against Spain on Saturday before further Nations League fixtures against Czechia, Croatia and Czechia again in this prolonged international break.

Tuchel’s squad is already locked in, but what should England’s lineup really have looked like based on current form?

Football stats website WhoScored provides a comprehensive player rating system based on various metrics, so we’ve checked over the averages from English players in Europe’s top five leagues and made a lineup from those above a certain threshold for minutes played.

GK: James Trafford (7.22)

The two teams in the Premier League with the best defensive records have English goalkeepers.

You’d imagine that long-serving first-choice ‘keeper Jordan Pickford will retain Tuchel’s faith for now, but it’ll be interesting to see how that situation develops over the course of the next two-year cycle.

Leeds United’s record signing was billed as England’s future No.1 when he arrived in the summer, and he’s done little to dispel that notion in his early appearances for the club. Trafford might just be their best goalkeeper since Nigel Martyn, who Leeds fans will tell you didn’t play for England nearly as often as he ought to have.

The 23-year-old boasts the best save percentage (87%) and has made more saves (20) than any other Premier League goalkeeper this season, which probably explains why he’s ahead of Pickford (6.95) in the WhoScored ratings.

RB: Ben White (6.98)

Trent Alexander-Arnold has earned an England recall after controversially being left behind the likes of Jarell Quansah and Trevoh Chalobah for Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad.

The former Liverpool defender is actually the highest-rated English right-back (7.78) across Europe’s five major leagues this season, but he doesn’t meet our minutes threshold after falling behind Denzel Dumfries in Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid pecking order.

Ainsley Maitland-Niles (7.36) hasn’t quite played enough either, meaning White – who is open for selection once again, although currently injured – is the top-rated eligible player.

Leeds United’s Jayden Bogle has enjoyed an excellent start to the season, although he doesn’t score as highly on the WhoScored algorithm as he does in Fantasy Premier League.

CB: James Tarkowski (7.63)

Speaking of FPL, only Brighton’s Pascal Gross has notched more points than Tarky this season.

The grizzled Everton centre-back scored high enough last season to make the WhoScored XI for the World Cup and he continues doing the business when it comes to his statistical output.

He’s helped keep three clean sheets in five games, played every minute of Everton’s campaign so far, and was their man of the match in Saturday’s 1-0 win over Ipswich.

CB: Eric Dier (7.32)

It’s been almost four years since Dier was last capped for England, a stalemate we can’t see changing any time soon.

But he is having a storming season for top-of-the-table Monaco, ever-present in their first five Ligue 1 games this season.

With a goal and an assist to his name as well, Dier has an average just above Manchester City’s Marc Guehi (7.26).

A shame that he’s been overlooked by Tuchel, and that Luis de la Fuente hasn’t seen fit to bring back a 40-year-old Sergio Ramos. We’d have loved a recreation of Dier’s finest hour for England.

LB: Lewis Hall (7.44)

Hall was one of the more surprising omissions from the World Cup squad, especially when his Newcastle deputy Dan Burn made it in his place.

But at 22, time is still on Hall’s side. And he’s made an encouraging start to the season, with an assist and a goal from five league games so far.

DM: Elliot Anderson (7.13)

Not too shabby a start for someone who cost so much.

Anderson has made the most touches in the Premier League this season and is tied with his Manchester City teammate Ruben Dias for most passes completed.

He began to become a regular feature in the England lineup at the World Cup while waiting for his move from Nottingham Forest to go through. He should be sticking around as an established international for a good while from now.

CM: Jobe Bellingham (7.39)

Still in the under-21s setup at international level, Bellingham the younger has made a decent start to his second season with Borussia Dortmund.

Most recently, he assisted the winning goal against Stuttgart on his fourth Bundesliga appearance of the season.

It’s still up for question if he’ll follow in his brother’s footsteps in the long term, but at this rate, this Bellingham might be on Tuchel’s radar some time soon.

FWR: Bukayo Saka (7.45)

With three goals from five games in the Premier League so far, it’s been a strong start to the season by Saka.

He had a pretty good World Cup over the summer on the back of Arsenal’s Premier League title win and at 25 is still striving towards his peak.

This is another big season in Saka’s story.

CAM: Jude Bellingham (7.91)

The highest-rated player in this XI.

Special mention for Brighton’s Jack Hinshelwood, who is the top-rated English player across the major leagues this season. He has an 8.92 rating and two goals from his 64 minutes of Premier League action. He doesn’t meet our minutes threshold, and is injured anyway, but he could be one to watch in the coming years.

FWL: Morgan Rogers (7.38)

Rogers still only has one England goal to his name so far, but his numbers should be swelling soon if he can keep up the form he’s shown since joining Chelsea.

With three goals and an assist from five league games so far, he’s hit the ground running at Stamford Bridge since his move from Aston Villa.

That said, he’s only just ahead of the perennially underrated Marcus Tavernier (7.30) and Barcelona summer signing Anthony Gordon (7.22).

ST: Harry Kane (7.87)

Can you even imagine anyone else leading the line for England? We’re still not sure we really want to.

Kane is a bona fide Ballon d’Or contender and the player England can continue putting their trust in up top. The sooner someone works out how to preserve him this way forever, the better.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every England player capped by Thomas Tuchel?

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