England could challenge for the 2022 World Cup, according to Germany great Lothar Matthaus.
Gareth Southgate s men have been drawn against Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G for the 2018 event in Russia, but they are not considered among the favourites.
Matthaus – who won the 1990 World Cup – feels England should be contenders in four years time.
The former Bayern Munich star pointed to the country s success at the Under-17 World Cup last year, but he believes Germany could go back-to-back by lifting the trophy in Russia.
England have a very good team, young team, he said.
Maybe the World Cup is coming four years too early but for the next World Cup I think they have very good players and have made good results with the youth team in the last 18 months.
I think the Premier League is the toughest league in Europe. Big teams, great coaches, like Jurgen Klopp, like [Jose] Mourinho, like [Pep] Guardiola.
We have to work very hard with academies and for this we have a good national team and I think Germany, how they played against Spain [in a 1-1 friendly draw] would be once again one of the favourites for the title.
Germany will face Mexico, Sweden and South Korea in Group F.
