Kobbie Mainoo: England's Next Unlikely Hero?
Sixty years on from England’s greatest day, the story still starts with a twist of fate.
Back in 1966, Geoff Hurst was not supposed to be the man. Jimmy Greaves, the natural finisher, the idol of a generation, began that World Cup as the undisputed first-choice striker. Hurst sat in the shadows, another option for Sir Alf Ramsey, waiting and wondering if his moment would ever come.
Then came the injury. Greaves was sidelined, the door opened, and Hurst walked straight into football immortality.
A hat-trick in the World Cup final against West Germany at Wembley. The first and only in a men’s World Cup final. The “they think it’s all over” goal that sealed a global title on home soil and etched his name into English folklore. Supporters spilled onto the pitch before the whistle finally blew. A West Ham forward who began as a backup became the symbol of a nation’s finest hour.
No England side has matched that achievement since. Hurst’s story still hangs over every major tournament, a reminder that the defining hero is not always the one expected.
That is exactly the kind of arc Michael Owen has in mind when he looks at Kobbie Mainoo.
The former England striker, now a UK ambassador for Casino.org, believes the young midfielder has the talent to shape a World Cup – even if he is not yet central to Gareth Southgate’s plans. Speaking to GOAL, Owen drew a straight line from Hurst’s sudden rise to the possibility of Mainoo forcing his way into the narrative.
“I do a little bit,” Owen said when asked if he feels for Mainoo, given England’s periodic lack of control in midfield. “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.”
Unlikely heroes. Just as Hurst once was.
Owen’s reference point is personal as much as historical. Greaves, the man Hurst replaced, remains almost mythical in the memories of those who watched him.
“Our greatest moment ever in this country, winning the World Cup, who would have thought Geoff Hurst would have been playing?” Owen said. “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.”
That is the essence of tournament football: plans drawn, hierarchies set, then torn up by circumstance, form, or a single moment. A knock in training. A tactical tweak. A suspension. Suddenly, a squad player becomes central to the story.
“There will be, or there could be, a surprise,” Owen continued. “And it could be Mainoo, you can't switch off.”
Owen’s wider point is blunt. England, in his view, should not have been stretched by the opposition they have faced so far. If they had gone out early, he believes the scrutiny would have been ferocious.
“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 said.
He bristled at the way some fixtures have 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.”
Expectation, then, is non-negotiable. England, with the depth and quality at their disposal, should handle those assignments. The real test, in Owen’s eyes, is only now arriving.
“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,” he said. “But everything so far has been what you would expect from England, surely.”
This is the stage where reputations are made or shattered. Where managers earn trust or lose it. Where a teenager like Mainoo either watches from the fringes or grabs the tournament by the throat.
Owen expects chaos. Not in England’s structure, but in the story that will unfold if they go the distance.
“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 in for a legend and never gave the shirt back. The question now is simple: if the moment comes, will Mainoo be ready to do the same?
