Kobbie Mainoo: England's Potential New Hero in the World Cup
Sixty years on from Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick echoing around Wembley, England are still chasing that same sense of destiny. The last time they climbed the mountain, a supposed understudy seized his moment and rewrote the country’s footballing history. That story, Michael Owen believes, should be ringing loudly in the ears of Kobbie Mainoo.
Back in 1966, Hurst began the tournament in the shadows. Jimmy Greaves was the superstar, the natural finisher, the man every England fan expected to carry the nation. An injury changed everything. Hurst stepped in, scored three against West Germany in the final, and walked off with immortality. The West Ham striker went from back-up to legend in an afternoon.
No England side has matched that achievement since. Hurst’s feat still stands alone, a reference point for every generation that follows and a reminder that tournaments are rarely won by the names inked in strongest at the start.
Owen, speaking to GOAL in his role as a UK ambassador for Casino.org, sees a similar opening for Mainoo if England’s campaign bends in the right direction.
“I do a little bit,” Owen said when asked if he feels for the young midfielder, who has watched England search for control in the middle of the pitch. “Because I think he's definitely got the ability to play a role in the World Cup. And who knows? Things change, you get unlikely heroes.”
His mind goes straight back to that old black-and-white summer.
“Our greatest moment ever in this country, winning the World Cup, who would have thought Geoff Hurst would have been playing? Jimmy Greaves was the best thing since sliced bread. My dad just raves about Jimmy Greaves. When anyone's talking about the best England XI and things like that, my dad's like, ‘Jimmy Greaves’ straight away. He was insanely good. Now, things happen, and all of a sudden, Geoff Hurst plays, and look what happens.”
The message is clear: no one on the fringes is truly out of the story. Not in tournament football.
“There will be, or there could be, a surprise. And it could be Mainoo, you can't switch off,” Owen insisted. England, in his eyes, have done only what should be expected so far. Nothing more, nothing less.
“Really, what we've done so far, if we had been knocked out, there would have been a huge inquest. I mean, nobody should be really in our league.”
He bristles at how some of the opposition has been framed.
“We've built it up as if Mexico was the hardest game of all time, but come on. Norway, if we played Norway at a neutral ground, let's say we play Norway in Spain tomorrow, people would expect us to beat them two or 3-0. So when you look back, we should be beating every single team.”
England, he argues, have only now reached the edge of the real examination.
“This [Argentina] is now the first game, this is a proper game, this is one that is a toss of a coin, this is one that's going to challenge us. But everything so far has been what you would expect from England, surely.”
This is the point where narratives harden. Where reputations are made or quietly fade. Where a manager either trusts a young midfielder to put his foot on the ball under the brightest lights, or leaves him waiting for a chance that never comes.
Owen expects chaos, drama, and new names on supporters’ lips before it’s over.
“We will see, but if we're going to win it, there are going to be so many twists and turns and so many heroes that we won't even be thinking at the moment. And Mainoo could be one of them.”
Sixty years ago, Hurst stepped out from behind a giant and changed English football forever. The stage is different now, the opponents too. The question is the same: when the tournament tilts and the pressure bites, who will be ready to grab their moment?
