Indeed their toughest test in terms of ranking last year was a friendly against Senegal, who were 19th in the world at the time. It may have been a non-competitive match, but the Three Lions' performance in that game was concerning. "[Tuchel] may offer up mitigating circumstances as he made 10 changes from the World Cup qualifying win against Andorra, plus this was a friendly at the end of a long season. But it was still a sobering, alarming evening as Senegal outclassed England." While that result and performance may have been a blip, England needed to face higher-ranked opponents to test them before heading to the World Cup - and they should get that against Uruguay and then Japan, who currently occupy 19th in the world rankings.

Source: BBC March 27, 2026 19:30 UTC