Phil Foden may be one of England’s best and most important players at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022, but the Manchester City forward admits he is not yet a world great.
Most people would love nothing more than to be compared to the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
To be hailed as good enough to succeed the duo as one of the next icons of world football. But not Phil Foden. In fact, the England and Manchester City superstar is almost embarrassed to be mentioned in the same breath as the game’s biggest superstars heading into the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
He might have to get used to being one of the billboard stars in Doha considering how considerable his footballing gifts are.
And Foden admits he has what it takes to go on and emulate the greats of the game. But in an act of marvelous, if misguided modesty rarely seen in footballers, Foden has told the plaudits to stop calling him ‘world class’ – because he’s done nothing on the biggest stage of all so far.
Foden, speaking from England’s Al-Wakah training base, said: “No, definitely not. The people you’ve just mentioned (Messi/Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe) are way above me at the moment.
“I’d like to think I could be there one day. It’s all about taking small steps in the right direction. As I said, I just want to take my club form into the national team. With my club form this year, I’ve been scoring a lot of goals and I want to bring that to the national team.”
So you wouldn’t describe yourself as world-class then? “Definitely not,” said Foden, “I’ve got to score in big games and big finals to be world-class. I know I’m capable of doing that, so it’s something I strive for and look forward to.”
Foden has a point, considering he still hasn’t kicked a ball at a World Cup before. And his memories of being involved with England’s march to the Euro 2021 final remain mixed, having failed to score during the tournament before getting himself injured for the showpiece game against Italy at Wembley.
The 22-year-old said: “It was really difficult. Probably one of the biggest games of my life, so to sit out of it with injury was difficult. It took it as a positive as well, just being a part of the squad, part of what we did, and tried to take the little positives away from it.
“It was literally nothing, just doing a bit of long passing after training and I decided to some kind of touch and I just felt something in my foot. I couldn’t walk.
“It is strange how things happen sometimes. It was quite bad actually. They said to me it was an injury you don’t see very often. It was quite a strange one.”
Foden is keen to make amends and while he doesn’t think he’s like Messi, he’s convinced he should be wearing the same No.10 as the Argentine genius.
He added: “I see myself playing behind the striker in the future or one of the eights or tens at City. Something hopefully in the future I can play there more and show more of my game. Hopefully, you can influence the game more because sometimes you are standing out wide.
“We’ve got some great players in this England team, though. Players who can receive it in the pocket on the half-turn can make the killer pass or shoot from distance. I like to look at those players and hopefully one day I can definitely play in that role as well.”
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