Danny Mills names his World Cup winner and says England must experiment against Panama

Category	Danny Mills’ pick
World Cup winner	France
Top goalscorer	Haaland or Messi
Player of the tournament	Yamal, Mbappe or Messi
Surprise team	Norway
Scotland	Could go home despite three points
England	Quarter-finals mandatory, semi-final excellent

England’s meeting with Panama might look like the sort of World Cup game where supporters expect goals, rotation and a comfortable afternoon.

Danny Mills, though, sees something more useful.

Speaking exclusively to The Football Historian on behalf of betTOM, the former England defender believes Thomas Tuchel should use the Panama game as a chance to test how England can break down a low block - because, as every England fan knows, nothing says major tournament fun quite like 80% possession, three shots on target and a nation collectively shouting “move it quicker” at the television.

Mills believes England should win the game, but says that is precisely why it should be treated as a tactical opportunity rather than just another group-stage hurdle.

“I think I would experiment a little bit,” Mills said. “We know it’s going to be a low block. You should be beating Panama. I know that’s a little bit arrogant, but it should be a given that you win the game.

“I think we’re going to come up against a low block later on in the tournament, whether that be round of 32, round of 16, quarter-finals, even if it’s only for 20 or so minutes. It’s going to happen.”

Danny Mills’ England XI idea against Panama

Mills did not simply call for wholesale rotation for the sake of it. Instead, his argument was about structure.

He believes England do not need two holding midfielders against Panama and should use the match to test a more adventurous system.

“I don’t think you need two holding midfield players against Panama,” he said. “I know that for a fact that you don’t.

“So is it an opportunity to play one — Anderson or Rice — and then go, do you play two eights or two tens, whichever way you want to call them?”

That would mean one sitter in midfield, two more advanced creative players, Harry Kane down the middle and wide players used in a more traditional way to stretch the pitch.

Mills also suggested that John Stones and Marc Guehi could be England’s best centre-back partnership.

“The back four will probably stay the same,” he added. “Although I think Stones and Guehi would be a better partnership.

“Then I would pick Rice or Anderson to be the out-and-out sitter. If Rice has had a little bit of an issue, maybe give him a rest.

“Then try and find a balance between two players in front of that, two in behind Harry Kane and then two wide players.

“Don’t play inverted wingers. Play out and out. Put Anthony Gordon on the right if you want, or Rashford, Saka on the left — just try something.”

In other words, this is not about disrespecting Panama. It's about England learning something before the games become tighter, nastier and significantly less forgiving.

Because if England reach the knockout rounds and spend 65 minutes passing the ball from centre-back to full-back and back again, nobody will be saying: “At least they played the safe team against Panama.”

Danny Mills’ World Cup predictions

Mills also gave his wider World Cup predictions, and he is leaning towards France to win the tournament.

“I would have gone France,” he said. “Then you start to think Argentina, with the way that they’re set up and the way that Messi’s going, they could go a long way.

“Spain will be there or thereabouts, but I guess you’d probably look at the history and the quality of the squad, and probably France just shade it for me.”

On the Golden Boot, Mills refused to give just one name — which is understandable, because expanded tournaments are now built perfectly for one striker to accidentally ruin everyone’s prediction with four goals against a rotated defence in a dead-rubber group game.

He said Harry Kane could be in the mix, but eventually landed on two names. “I’m going to go Haaland or Messi,” Mills said.

“I think Haaland will score a lot of goals and I think they could be a dark horse. I think they could get to a quarter-final or a semi-final perhaps.”

For player of the tournament, Mills believes it will almost certainly come from a side that reaches the final.

He named Lamine Yamal, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi as the obvious headline-makers if their countries go deep.

As for the surprise team to watch, Mills picked Norway. “They’re organised, they’ve got some good players, and I think they’ll be the underdog in many games that they play in.

“But with the likes of Odegaard and Haaland, they are a threat.”

Mills also had a very Football Historian answer on Scotland.

He praised them for qualifying, backed their supporters as contenders for “fans of the tournament”, and joked that they had taken “hydration breaks to a new level”.

However, he fears three points may not be enough for them to progress.

“I would like to see them get through to the round of 32,” Mills said. “I think it’s going to be very, very difficult.

“Sadly, I think three points might not be enough and they could be going home.”

On England, Mills was clear: quarter-finals should be the minimum.

“I think quarter-finals is probably a definite,” he said. “I’ve said all along, quarter-finals is mandatory.

“If you don’t make the quarter-finals, I think it’s abject failure with the quality that we’ve got.

“Semi-finals would be a fantastic achievement. Obviously, to win it would be utopia. To make the final would probably be punching above the weight.”

So there you go. France to win it, Norway to surprise people, Haaland or Messi for the Golden Boot, and England needing to do what England so often threaten to do at tournaments: look like a serious side before the bubble bursts when it matters most.

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