In the 2006 World Cup in Germany, the England players received less attention, and fewer column inches, than their wives. For the first time ever, England’s coach allowed the footballer’s wives and girlfriends – including Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole – to the event, and boy, did the Wags give the residents of Baden Baden a sideshow of glitter, fake tan, table-dancing and astronomical spending.
Twenty years on, at this 2026 World Cup, the Wag circus is nowhere to be seen. The England team’s partners tend to keep a lower profile, with many having ordinary jobs outside of the home. And another notable difference is that several of the top players are in long-term relationships with their childhood sweethearts. After a match, they have the stabilising, grounding experience of going home to partners who have known them since they were awkward kids in the school corridors – before they got rich and famous.
Harry Kane, England’s all-time top scorer, met his wife Kate Goodland at Larkswood primary school in Chingford, east London, and both continued on to Chingford Foundation School. They grew up streets apart, and were friends throughout school. In 2005, when Kate was 11 and Harry 12, they had their first sporting celebrity moment together on a class visit to the David Beckham Academy (a now-defunct football training programme), and had their photo taken together – with Beckham himself.
