Lewis Cook made his family proud on Tuesday by making his appearance for England's senior team. He made his grandfather a lot richer, too.

The Bournemouth midfielder made his senior international debut in England's 1-1 draw against Italy, netting Trevor Burlingham £17,000 after he placed a £500 bet in 2014 on his grandson winning a senior Three Lions cap before turning 26.

At the time of the bet, Cook was struggling to break into the first team at Leeds United, even though he had represented...

LONDON -- Three thoughts from Wembley on England's 1-1 draw with Italy in England's final friendly before the provisional World Cup squad is released in May.

1. Fringe players rise, fall

Two friendlies against the faded aristocracy of European football, a win and a draw, and Gareth Southgate will probably enter the last few weeks before he names his England World Cup squad with a sense of quiet satisfaction.

The result was almost an afterthought, but it's the progression of his team that will...

With a tough tie against Italy on the horizon, England seemed remarkably calm during their Monday morning training session at Tottenham's Enfield Training Centre.

Indeed, several of the drills being undertaken during the open session were fairly informal, with a lively game of Nerf football even breaking out at one point.

You may wonder what a game of Nerf football has to do with the venerated game of association football, but it certainly helps hone players' movement and coordination skills...

Gianluigi Buffon was winning his 176th cap for Italy on Friday night, just as Jordan Pickford was earning his second for England.

Gareth Southgate has a number of issues to resolve as England manager before his team begin their World Cup campaign against Tunisia in Volgograd in June and the vast gulf in experience between his best goalkeeper and Italy's No. 1 highlights the first problem he comes to when filling out his teamsheet.

Buffon, despite announcing his international retirement last November...

With under three months to go before the World Cup, Gareth Southgate is trying to figure out his best England team.

Here's how we think England will line-up against Tunisia on June 18 ...

Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford

If you cast your mind back to last summer, the prevailing wisdom was that Everton had "won" the transfer market. As it turned out, only Pickford represented much of an upgrade on what they already had, and while he hasn't been flawless in the intervening months, he's done enough to...

AMSTERDAM -- Three points on England's uninspiring 1-0 win over the Netherlands in Friday's international friendly.

1. Lingard wins the game but fails to mask England's bluntness

Jesse Lingard's first England goal secured a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in Amsterdam, but the Manchester United midfielder's strike could not mask the worrying attacking issues facing Gareth Southgate ahead of the World Cup.

Having been held to goalless draws by Germany and Brazil in their past two outings, England...