Sam Allardyce has named the England XI that he believes would win him the 2022 World Cup if he was still manager.
The veteran coach, 68, took charge of one England game in 2016 before his contract was terminated by mutual consent following allegations of malpractice.
Allardyce won the only game of his ill-fated 67-day reign: a 1-0 victory over Slovakia thanks to a late Adam Lallana goal.
Gareth Southgate then replaced Allardyce and the rest is history. "Yeah, there's no doubt about that [the biggest regret of his managerial career]," Allardyce told Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday in October 2017. "Legally, it is a difficult subject for me to talk about at the minute but I think to say one thing personally: I don't think I should have left. "I can't go any deeper than that but since it happened, people from my point of view have had a good, long look at it and clearly, if a little bit more patience had been shown, I believe I should have still been there. "I think about it a lot.
Especially when the England games come up and I've just been able to watch them again recently.
It was a really sad moment for me, having worked so hard to get to the pinnacle in my career - you're never going to get a job at a top club if you're English - so to get the England job is the pinnacle of your career." Ahead of next month’s World Cup finals in Qatar, Allardyce has named the England XI that he believes would win the tournament if he was still in the hot seat.
Speaking on William Hill’s and Footy Accumulators’ No Tippy Tappy Football podcast alongside his former assistant Sammy Lee, per The Sun , Allardyce was asked if he would have won the World Cup as England boss. "Yes, definitely.
With this squad, yes,” the veteran coach, who last managed West Brom, responded. "We’d go for Jordan Pickford in goal, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Conor Coady and Luke Shaw in defence. "Declan Rice in midfield and Jude Bellingham alongside him, along with Mason Mount. "Harry Kane up front, and we’ll go with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden.
We’d be celebrating with that, this team would win the World Cup." If you say so, Big Sam.
Here’s Allardyce’s England XI for the 2022 World Cup on paper: Click here to follow GiveMeSport on Instagram for more football coverage!
England begin their 2022 World Cup campaign against Iran on November 21 before taking on United States (November 25) and Wales (November 29).
Southgate’s side, who reached the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and Euro 2020 final, are among the favourites to lift the trophy on December 18 despite a dismal showing in the recent Nations League.
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