England stage of elimination odds for 2026 World Cup

England's preparations are complete as the countdown for their World Cup campaign continues.

While the 1-0 win over New Zealand may have been uninspiring, the 3-0 win over Costa Rica was more convincing.

The expanded 48-team World Cup looks to have removed pretty much all the jeopardy from the group stage, with the bigger nations largely kept apart and drawn against some of the tournament's minnows.

While England fans might still be having nightmares about their 2018 World Cup semi-final with Croatia, most of the playing staff are unburdened by the defeat, with only Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Marcus Rashford members of both squads. Their opening opponents at the World Cup, however, are still reliant on much of the old guard who weren't exactly spring chickens back in 2018, and the Three Lions should be confident of a win to kick their campaign off.

From there comes what should be the easier clashes against Ghana and Panama, and an unthinkable group stage exit for England is priced at 20/1.

Should the Three Lions top their group as expected, they will face one of the third-placed teams who made it through, and the likelihood is they'd be a short-priced favourite to progress. Alternatively, should England finish second, they'd face the runner-up of the group involving Portugal and Colombia, and a round of 32 exit is available at 7/2.

From there, things start to get trickier. If England came second in their group, Spain would be their most likely opponents, while winning their group could set up an encounter with co-hosts Mexico at the famous Azteca. A round of 16 exit is priced at 9/4.

Should all the favourites win their groups, England would then be on a collision course to face Brazil in the quarter-finals, in a repeat of the 2002 tournament, with Thomas Tuchel's men 4/1 to be eliminated at that stage for a second successive World Cup.

England made only their third World Cup semi-final in 2018 under Gareth Southgate, falling to Croatia, and they're 11/2 to be eliminated the final four stage once again, with a clash against either Portugal or Argentina a possibility.

England record at World Cups

Year	Stage of elimination
1950	Group stage
1954	Quarter-finals (Uruguay)
1958	Group stage
1962	Quarter-finals (Hungary)
1966	Winners
1970	Quarter-finals (West Germany)
1974	Did not qualify
1978	Did not qualify
1982	Second group stage
1986	Quarter-finals (Argentina)
1990	Semi-finals (West Germany)
1994	Did not qualify
1998	Round of 16 (Argentina)
2002	Quarter-finals (Brazil)
2006	Quarter-finals (Portugal)
2010	Round of 16 (Germany)
2014	Group stage
2018	Semi-finals (Croatia)
2022	Quarter-finals (France)

All odds correct at time of publishing and are subject to change or withdrawal at any time.