Where have all of England's number nines gone?

On paper, a third-place finish, the national team's best performance since 1966, looks like an impressive summer, but it papers over what was a tactical meltdown from Thomas Tuchel in the semi-final defeat to Argentina. 

Those decisions cost England a first World Cup final appearance for sixty years, and the national team are still on the search for silverware since that famous win of '66. 

It means the focus switches to the next two tournaments, how England can finally land that elusive trophy, and whether we have the personnel to deliver it. 

There's no doubt that there is a talented pool of players in the current set-up, and some huge potential names who could break through in the next eight years, except that is for one prime position. 

With Harry Kane set to hit 33 later this month, time is slowly ticking down on his international career; the problem is that the cupboard is bare when it comes to any potential replacements. 

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The succession line 

Whatever state the England national football team has been in over the past four decades, one thing has remained constant: a world-class focal point of their attack. 

You can go as far back as 1986, when Gary Lineker really moved into the spotlight, beginning a succession that has continued to the modern day. 

From Lineker, it went to Alan Shearer, and then to Michael Owen, onto Wayne Rooney and now England's greatest-ever striker Harry Kane. But it's here where the production line comes to a grinding halt. 

After Kane, England at all levels are so bereft of 'number nines' or natural goalscorers that thoughts are already turning to Jude Bellingham as the future of England's frontman. 

Even Kane's current back-ups aren't profiles that scream heir to the throne. Both Ollie Watkins and Ivan Toney have had inconsistent international careers, and both are already 30, so they aren't long-term options. 
 

The only other options England used in the last year are Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke, but once again they are nearing 30, and it is a huge drop in level from Harry Kane. 

It's a far cry from previous eras when the national team was spoilt for options, even when the starting act wasn't available. 

Shearer may have been number one, but in the 1990s the Three Lions could also call on the likes of Les Ferdinand, Ian Wright, Andy Cole, Kevin Phillips, Chris Sutton and Robbie Fowler, just to name a few.

A generation on, there were still Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent, and Peter Crouch as credible back-up for Wayne Rooney. 

In 2026, that luxury has gone. In fact, in 1992-93, there were 21 English strikers who scored 10+ goals in a season; by 2024-25, it had fallen to three. So where have all the strikers gone?

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A different generation 

Looking beyond the established names and into England's youth set-ups doesn't particularly make things any better either. 

There is some huge talent in the attacking wide areas - namely the potential we've seen from Max Dowman and Rio Ngumoha - but through the middle there is a dearth of names. 

Kane may not have been an overnight sensation like Owen or Rooney, and having worked his way through loan spells at Leyton Orient and Millwall, to name a few, he didn't make his international debut until his early twenties. 

But through either path, it's hard to see who the next name could be. Spurs' Will Lankshear could follow a similar path to Kane, having been through his own loan path, but at 21 already and without a sniff of top-flight action, it's an unlikely scenario. 

Looking further into the youth ranks, there is hope for Divin Mubama of Man City, who is part of the U21 set-up. Yet five goals for Stoke City last season don't really smack of someone ready for Premier League football, let alone senior international. 

And it's the same story for prospects like Shim Mheuka and Jesse Derry at Chelsea or Manchester City's Caelan Cadamarteri; they've shown some raw talent, but it's hard to see them progressing in the manner and timeframe England needs. 
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More ball, fewer goals 

It seems the issue could go much deeper, because at the grassroots level, there appears to be reduced desire to be a number nine anymore. 

As football has evolved, the 'striker' has become a much more difficult position, and the modern emphasis has shifted toward a 'number 10' or wide forward to be that talisman and a team's main source of goals. 

The Cristiano Ronaldos, Lionel Messis, and Mo Salahs of this era, who all spent most of their careers as part of a front three, wide of a central player, with them as the goalscorer. 

For those learning their trade, it's a position where you see more of the ball and cause greater impact, rather than waiting for that moment to strike in the vein of Kane, Erling Haaland or Robert Lewandowski. 

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"Because of the way kids have been training and the coaching they have had, no-one wants to play at centre-forward because you very rarely get a touch," Alan Shearer told The Rest is Football podcast last year. 

"Instead, coaches want a pass from the keeper, a pass to the side, then a pass into midfield... and then it goes back. As a centre-forward you are thinking 'I am not getting involved'.

"I am convinced that is why there is a lack of number nines, particularly in our country."

It means that going forward England may have to change tact themselves, because right now they can't invent a new number nine and unless we see a name burst onto the scene in the next couple of years then the only successor to England's greatest-ever goalscorer will be whoever best fits a 'false nine'. 

Whether that's Bellingham, Gordon, Foden, or Palmer, right now they have to be seen as options because there is no real alternative. 

All we can hope is that Kane can carry on to at least 2030 and allow England their final days of having a real number nine, because after that what happens next is anyone's guess. 

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