Former England captain Rio Ferdinand has dismissed the current side’s chances of winning Euro 2016 in France this summer.
The 37-year-old central defender won 81 caps for the Three Lions and featured in three World Cup squads, before announcing his retirement in 2013 having been omitted from coach Roy Hodgson’s squad for Euro 2012 the previous summer.
A disastrous 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where England finished bottom of their group with just one point from three matches, has been followed by a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for Hodgson’s men.
They eased through qualifying for the European Championships with a 100% record from their 10 matches and have subsequently been flagged up as one of the favourites to win the trophy for the first time this summer.
However, Ferdinand is not optimistic about England’s chances and he does not expect the team to advance beyond the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time since the 1990 World Cup.
When asked if England could win Euro 2016, he told NDTV: “Based on what I have seen I don’t think so. If you got to go through the quarters and the semis and the final of this tournament and potentially win it, you’ve got to beat France, you got to beat Germany and you got to beat Spain.
“I don’t think England will be able to do that, given what we have seen. I just don’t think they are capable.”
England are in Group B alongside Russia, Slovakia and home nations rivals Wales and can be backed at 1.91 to come out on top of the pile, while they are 1.11 to qualify from the group. The Three Lions are 11.00 to win Euro 2016 outright.
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