Image source, Getty Images
Marcus Rashford has scored 18 goals in 71 England appearances
Former England winger Theo Walcott says Marcus Rashford is the Three Lions player he is “most psyched about” at the upcoming World Cup.
Rashford was left out of Gareth Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad and did not play for his country for 12 months between March 2024 and 2025.
Re-introduced by Thomas Tuchel, he has featured in every Three Lions squad under the German other than in June 2025 when a hamstring injury ruled him out.
A loan spell at Barcelona, where he scored 14 goals and registered 14 assists in 47 games for the La Liga champions, has revitalised the 28-year-old Manchester United forward’s career.
He started England’s 1-0 friendly win over New Zealand on Saturday and while Tuchel said there were “no hidden messages” within his first-half line-up, Walcott believes Rashford has to start at the World Cup.
“Rashford this year has been outstanding,” Walcott said on The Wayne Rooney Show.
“I’ve watched him quite a lot. I found the love of watching Barcelona again and took more of an interest with Rashford going out there. It’s been great for him.
“He would be a dead cert to start for me. The way he’s played, that freedom, that enjoyment. We want to see that smile.”
Rashford was England’s bright spark in the first half against New Zealand, creating five chances.
“Rashford’s going to be a major part of this tournament,” Walcott added. “I’m looking forward to watching him. Out of all the players, I’m most psyched about him.
“I think he’s brave to go abroad – it’s great when English players go. I wasn’t brave enough, but for him to do that shows good character.”
Image source, Getty Images
Walcott and Rashford only shared the pitch together once for England, both coming on as second-half substitutes in a friendly against Spain in November 2016
Against New Zealand, Rashford was replaced at half-time by new Barcelona signing Anthony Gordon as Tuchel switched all 11 players for the second half.
His club future is still uncertain with Barca yet to make his loan move from Manchester United permanent.
The Catalan club have a deadline of 15 June – two days before England’s World Cup opener against Croatia – to activate a clause to trigger a £26m deal.
Rooney is United’s all-time leading scorer and said the decline of Rashford’s Old Trafford career was sad.
“I think it’s a shame that he left Manchester United – he’s a Manchester lad,” Rooney said. “He’s the one player who’s got a chance to get my record there.
“Records are there for someone to break and for a Manchester lad to do it, I think would be great. But over the last few years, he hasn’t been present there. We know what a good player he is, so he probably needed that change. It’s a shame to see it go the way it has because I’d still love him there.”
‘England can win it’
Rooney and Walcott were joined on the show by Jermain Defoe as the trio reminisced on their time with England.
For their penultimate friendly, Tuchel’s side were without Arsenal quartet Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke after their Premier League title win and the Champions League final.
With three of Aston Villa’s Europa League winners also in the squad, plus Crystal Palace’s Conference League-winning goalkeeper Dean Henderson, Defoe believes players winning trophies at club level can only help England at the World Cup.
“They’ve got tournament experience now,” he said. “Not only tournament experience, but getting to finals, being in touching distance. So the squad have to go into it confident.
“They have to believe that they can get over the line. They have to believe they can compete against other nations. We can talk about France and Argentina, but they’ll be talking about England. I’m sure they will be talking about England being one of their favourites with the players that we’ve got.”
Rooney has spoken previously about some of Tuchel’s call-ups for his World Cup squad and his “shock” at Harry Maguire’s omission.
But he said England fans and ex-players have to trust the manager.
“He’s obviously thought about what squad he’s going to pick and why,” Rooney said.
“There will be reasons why he hasn’t taken Cole Palmer or Phil Foden or Maguire and why he’s taken others – but I trust him. He’s a top manager, he knows what’s at stake and he’s picked a squad that he thinks can compete to win the World Cup.
“I would have made a couple of different decisions than he has but that’s why he’s England manager. He is there to make these decisions. We just have to back him.”
Tuchel is bidding to become the first England manager since Sir Alf Ramsey to win the World Cup and end a 60-year wait.
“I think deep down he believes he can do it,” Walcott said, “otherwise he wouldn’t have committed to this. It’s going to be tough, but you’ve got to believe. I think: ‘Why not? Why can’t they?'”
“England can win – there’s no doubting that,” Rooney added. “You need a bit of luck along the way but I think you’ve got a top manager, a really good squad and you need everything to be right. If that’s the case, we can certainly win it.”
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