Michael Owen names two ‘Golden Generation’ stars that would make England’s class of 2026 better & debates whether Harry Kane or Declan Rice could oust Wayne Rooney & Steven Gerrard

Early in the 21st century, with Owen having burst onto the international stage as a precociously-gifted 18-year-old in 1998, England boasted a squad that was loaded with world-class talent.

Skippered by Manchester United icon David Beckham, the likes of Gerrard, Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Gary Neville and Paul Scholes were expected to help the Three Lions roar their way to a long-awaited major title.

Head coach Sven-Goran Eriksson failed to turn that potential into something more tangible, with heartbreaking losses endured in World Cup and European Championship competition, and a barren run on the trophy front has now reached the 60-year mark.

Another bid to snap that sequence is about to be opened, on North American soil, but who from the ‘Golden’ age would make the greatest impact if a generational crossover could be arranged?

When that question was put to Owen, the former England striker - who is UK ambassador for the online casino comparison site Casino.org - told GOAL: “That's a good question. My biggest worry is our vulnerability at the back. I think we're quite good in attacking areas. But then again, when you've got somebody as good as someone like Steven Gerrard, then you just have to find a place.

“I'd probably say someone like Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard would be possibly the two. Wayne Rooney was one of the greatest players ever, but we are quite well off in that position anyway. So to enhance the team, I'd probably say a Rio and a Gerrard.”

On the flip side of that debate, is there anyone in the current England squad that would make the starting XI if travelling back in time to the era of 2002-2006? Owen added: “It's hard to say. Football is changing. It's changing quite a lot in recent years.

“Who would get in? Obviously Harry Kane, you take your pick. Do you prefer Wayne Rooney? Do you prefer Harry Kane? You've got to give Harry a big mention. Declan Rice, I suppose you'd have to find a position for him and that actually might force what I think we always should have done and played three in central midfield. You could have Declan Rice, Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard - you could have three of those four.

“Who else is there? I think somebody on the left. We always had a mixture of players, we never really had a set left side and maybe Joe Cole was the most constant in that position. But we experimented with a few people - put Paul Scholes out there, we had the Nick Barmbys, Stewart Downings of this world. We had a few players. One on the left possibly.

“But in general, none of the centre-halves would get in ahead of ours back then. Maybe Jordan Pickford. We never really had a set goalkeeper, I suppose. Putting it this way, no one's better than Ashley Cole. No one's better than Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Sol Campbell. No one.

“Is anyone better than Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes or Wayne Rooney or David Beckham? Probably not. Maybe you could argue three or four. It's quite hard to say.”

Thomas Tuchel has named his World Cup squad for 2026, with a few big calls there raising eyebrows. The likes of Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Harry Maguire, Morgan Gibbs-White, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Adam Wharton have all been overlooked.

England’s squad may not be as stacked with elite performers as it once was, but they can still eclipse what the ‘Golden Generation’ were able to achieve - with Gareth Southgate having led charges to World Cup semi-finals and Euros finals before passing the Three Lions’ managerial baton on to a German tactician that has savoured domestic and Champions League glory over the course of his distinguished coaching career to date.