Mourinho gives surprise verdict on England's chances

Marcus Rashford (Supplied: Twitter)

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Cape Town - Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho thinks England have what it takes for a strong showing at the 2018 Soccer World Cup.

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Premier League pedigree and Champions League experience should make up for the Three Lions’ youthfulness, said the Manchester United boss, who has seen four of his Reds picked for the side.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, the Portuguese said: "They have a good group of young but experienced players.

"All of them play in the best domestic competition in the world, the Premiership, all of them playing for the best teams, all of them with experience of playing Champions League, which is a high level of football, obviously.

"So I think yes, I think they can do it."

Mourinho suggested favourites like Germany, France and Brazil should not be seen as shoo-ins based on how they look on paper.

"They have good squads but good squads don’t always make good teams," he added.

Mourinho did not say explicitly if he thought England will go all the way, although he previously predicted Gareth Southgate’s men will make it out of the group stage.

However he predicted heartache for the national team soon after, with defeat by Brazil in the quarter finals.

After their humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany in 2014, the South Americans will be hoping to recover their pride.

"It’s a big match,” he said on Tuesday in his capacity as an RT pundit, quipping: “It’s not bad that for me (that) my players go on holiday."