Mourinho: England are capable of winning the World Cup

International friendly between England and Nigeria played at the Wembley stadium.

England have “a good group” capable of winning the World Cup in Russia, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said.

Gareth Southgate’s side begin their campaign against Tunisia on Monday, and Mourinho said his players had the ability and experience to exceed many people’s expectations.

“They have a good group of young but experienced players,” the United boss told Sky Sports.

“All of them play in the most competitive competition in the world, the Premier League, all of them play for the best teams with experience of playing in the Champions League which is a high level of football, obviously. Yes, I think they can do it.”

Four of Mourinho’s players — Phil Jones, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young and Marcus Rashford — are in Southgate’s squad.

The United manager warned that heavily-tipped sides such as Brazil, Germany and France may not do as well as expected.

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

“But I don’t think the underdogs will make a big surprise. In the end, the top teams in South America and Europe are the ones that will be fighting for the title.”