Every pub in England has a bloke who saw Finney play and won't hear a word against him, and another who thinks nobody before 1992 could have lived with Rooney. With the World Cup only just behind us, I've had this argument more times this year than I'd like. So here's my team. I've only counted what players did in an England shirt, and the dates next to each name are their England years.
Most of the rows over this side come down to the keeper, the Gerrard and Lampard business, and who plays with Kane. I'll start with the keeper, because that's the one that gets people shouting.
The XI
A 4-4-2. It's what England won the World Cup with and it's how most of these men played. Charlton and Gerrard in the middle, a proper wide player on each side, and Kane dropping off with a finisher who stays in the box.
Goalkeeper
Gordon Banks (1963 to 1972). I went back and forth on this one for ages. Shilton has 125 caps to Banks's 73 and was brilliant at Italia 90, so on longevity Banks loses. He won the World Cup, though, and in Guadalajara in 1970 he made the save from Pelé's header that people still show to kids. Then he fell ill before the quarter-final against West Germany that summer. England were 2-0 up with Peter Bonetti in goal and lost 3-2. That afternoon is the best argument for Banks I know.
Defence
Gary Neville, right back (1995 to 2007). Eighty-five caps across a decade, and I'm still annoyed he was suspended for the Euro 96 semi against Germany. George Cohen and Kyle Walker both have a case.
Rio Ferdinand, centre back (1997 to 2011). The best footballer England have had at centre back. Where other defenders would have hoofed it, he'd bring the ball out and find someone. John Terry fans will want their man here instead, and I understand why, but I want the centre half who could pass.
Bobby Moore, centre back (1962 to 1973). The tackle on Jairzinho in 1970 is still the one people mean when they talk about defending properly. Captain in 1966, 108 caps, and the first name I wrote down.
Ashley Cole, left back (2001 to 2014). He won 107 caps, one fewer than Moore, and for most of those years wingers just stopped trying to get past him. Stuart Pearce has the heart and the Italia 90 penalty story. Pearce? Cole was better going forward and no worse defending.
Midfield
David Beckham, right midfield (1996 to 2009). Greece at Old Trafford, October 2001, stoppage time, and the free kick that took England to the 2002 World Cup. The following summer, four years after the red card against Argentina, he scored the penalty that beat them. He finished on 115 caps, and nobody in this list crossed a ball better.
Bobby Charlton, centre midfield (1958 to 1970). His 49 goals stood as the England record until Rooney passed it in 2015, which tells you how long he held it. Two goals in the 1966 semi against Portugal, a winner's medal a few days later, and the Ballon d'Or that year. He won 106 caps.
Steven Gerrard, centre midfield (2000 to 2014). Gerrard and Lampard were both brilliant, and for most of the so-called golden generation years England tried to play them together and it never clicked. Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup both ended in quarter-final defeats to Portugal on penalties, with the pair of them in the side. People still argue about whose fault that was. Put Charlton next to Gerrard instead and Gerrard is free to get about the pitch and hit it from thirty yards, which is what he did best. He scored in the 5-1 in Munich in 2001 and won 114 caps, a lot of them as captain.
Lampard has the numbers, 29 England goals to Gerrard's 21, and I know how that looks. If Charlton is the deeper man, Lampard might even fit better. I've still gone with Gerrard, because in the big England games he was the one I wanted on the ball.
Tom Finney, left midfield (1946 to 1958). Seventy-six caps, 30 goals, and he'd happily play on the left so Stanley Matthews could have the right. John Barnes and that goal in the Maracanã in 1984 came close.
Attack
Harry Kane, striker (2015 to now). He passed Rooney's 53 in 2023 and has kept going, so he's England's record goalscorer and it isn't really a debate any more. He won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup with six goals, he's been captain for years, and he's closing on Shilton's 125 caps. Kane likes to drop into midfield and start things, which is what the rest of the front line is picked around.
Gary Lineker, striker (1984 to 1992). Ten World Cup goals in two tournaments. Six of them came in Mexico in 1986, enough for the Golden Boot, then four more at Italia 90, including the equaliser in the semi against West Germany. He scored 48 in 80 games for England and barely touched the ball outside the area. With Kane dropping deep, you need someone waiting in the six-yard box, and Lineker lived there.
Shearer is the obvious other choice. He got 30 goals in 63 games, five of them at Euro 96, when he and Sheringham were as good a pair as England have had. Jimmy Greaves scored 44 in 57, the best rate of anyone, and lost his place in 1966 through injury, which might be the unluckiest thing that ever happened to an English striker. If you want Greaves next to Kane, I won't argue for long. Lineker's World Cups are what tip it for me.
Manager
Alf Ramsey. He won the World Cup. Gareth Southgate deserves more credit than he got for a World Cup semi and two Euro finals, which no England manager had managed before him. Thomas Tuchel took over in January 2025 and has had a World Cup of his own since, so ask me again in a few years. For now it's Ramsey.
Close but not quite
- Peter Shilton (1970 to 1990). 125 caps, still the England record, and the best keeper in the world for a few of them. Plenty of good judges pick him over Banks.
- Frank Lampard (1999 to 2014). See above. Most rows about this team usually end up here.
- Bryan Robson (1980 to 1991). Ninety caps and captain for most of them. Injuries cost him a lot of England football, including most of two World Cups.
- Paul Gascoigne (1988 to 1998). Italia 90 and the goal against Scotland at Euro 96. The most gifted player on this list, and the least reliable.
- Billy Wright (1946 to 1959). 105 caps, and the first player anywhere to reach a hundred internationals.
- Stanley Matthews (1934 to 1957). The first Ballon d'Or winner, in 1956, at 41. Finney gave up the right wing for him, and I've given it to Beckham. I can already hear the complaints.
- Wayne Rooney (2003 to 2018). 53 goals in 120 caps, and the best English teenager I've seen, at Euro 2004.
- Jude Bellingham. His overhead kick against Slovakia at Euro 2024 saved England's tournament. Give him a few more years and someone will be dropping Gerrard for him.
- Terry Butcher, Tony Adams and John Terry. All captains, all proper centre halves, and none of them gets past Moore and Ferdinand.
Quick answers
Who is England's record goalscorer? Harry Kane, who passed Wayne Rooney's 53 in 2023.
Who has the most England caps? Peter Shilton with 125, though Kane is getting close.
Make your own
A lot of people would rather have the 1966 team on the wall than any all-time XI, and fair play. We've got a 1966 print in our England collection, with classic prints from £69.
Or put your own XI together in our team builder. Pick the players and formation, choose kits and pitch, add a title and a message, and we email you a proof before it's printed. It's £99 or £149, framed in black or white, with free UK delivery. Swap Lampard in. I won't tell anyone.