ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

FA Chief's 10-Year Predictions For England Are Eerily Accurate

FA Chief's 10-Year Predictions For England Are Eerily Accurate

He predicted it in a speech in 2013

Amelia Ward

Amelia Ward

When Greg Dyke was elected as chairman of the FA in 2013, he gave some predictions that at the time, seems over-ambitious, but they actually ended up coming true.

Giving his first speech of his position at the organisation, he said that England should aim to reach 'at least' the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and the U17 World Cup in 2017 - both of which have so far come true.

Greg Dyke was FA chairman between 2013 and 2016.
PA

Interestingly, Dyke also said England will win the World Cup in 2022, but of course - that is still yet to play out.

In his speech, Dyke said: "English football is a tanker that needs turning."

He added: "The two targets I have for the England team are - one, to at least reach the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and two, win the World Cup in 2022."

In his speech, he also accepted the FA hadn't done as well as it should have done in building a successful England team over the years.

And he added: "If the best of our emerging young players can't get a game here, then we have a serious problem."

He said the England set-up had been weakened instead of strengthened after 20 years of the Premier League, but said his speech was 'not designed to start a blame game'.

Speaking to the i this week, Dyke stood by his optimism, saying: "The structure and the set-up now in place, with a brilliant manager, and some great players, and others coming through, I think there's a good chance we could win in Qatar.

"I think we're going to win on Sunday against Italy, but to some extent it doesn't matter, what we've done is we've shown we can get there. That's all-important. A lot of these kids are quite young, give them another year's experience, it makes a big difference."

Not many people expected these two nations to meet in the final, given that Italy didn't even qualify for the 2018 World Cup and England haven't reached a final since 1966.

But England beat Denmark to go through to the Euro 2020 final.

England beat Denmark in the semi-final of Euro 2020.
PA

Gareth Southgate's boys proved too much for the Danes and will now play Italy tonight (11 July) in the country's first major final since the World Cup in 1966.

The game was incredibly close, with Denmark going 1-0 up mid-way through the first half.

A slick move from England, with a pass from Harry Kane to Bukayo Saka, who then squared it across the six-yard box, led to the Danish captain putting the ball into his own net to bring the sides level before half-time.

The second half was equally close, with England having the better of the chances.

However, the game went to extra-time, with Kane sweeping the ball past Kasper Schmeichel after he saved the penalty, making it 2-1 to England.

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: SPORT, Weird