World Cup

Sir Bobby Charlton 'worried' by England's lack of world-class players

By Kristian Johnson, Reporter | 03 June 2014

England's all-time top goalscorer Sir Bobby Charlton says that England do not have enough "world-class players" to win the World Cup.

Sir Bobby Charlton has declared that he is 'worried' by the "shortage of world-class players" in England's World Cup squad.

England are currently in Miami, where they will play two friendlies against Ecuador and Honduras before heading to their Rio de Janeiro base next week.

However, England's all-time top goalscorer (49) has said that the national side do not have enough quality to win the tournament.

"One thing that worries me is the shortage of world-class players," Charlton told Laureus.

"I am not against foreign players, but it means that if they are playing [in England], we don't have enough young players. We should play young players. You have to give them a chance."

When asked about England's chances of lifting the Jules Rimet trophy in South America, Charlton was dismissive.

"I always like to think and hope that we can get something out of it, but it does not seem possible. There's a lot of problems there: it's in Brazil, tough opposition, our own shortage of players," he said.

England beat Peru 3-0 in their first World Cup warm-up game on Saturday.