England have reached another decisive stage in their long pursuit of a second World Cup title, but one author believes success will require more than tactical preparation and individual quality.
According to The Guardian’s report from England’s quarter-final against Norway, Jude Bellingham scored twice as Thomas Tuchel’s side secured a 2-1 victory after extra time and advanced to a semi-final against defending champions Argentina.
England are now within two matches of ending a wait that stretches back to their only World Cup triumph in 1966.
Geraint Anderson, the former investment banker and author of Cityboy, believes England may need to abandon their reputation for fairness and restraint to take the final step.
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In an essay written for Square Mile before the tournament, Anderson argued that the national team should develop a colder and more ruthless approach to elite competition. He provocatively described it as getting in touch with their “inner psychopath”.
A theory built around ruthlessness
Anderson’s argument is connected to his book How to Con Friends and Manipulate People, which presents a satirical examination of the behaviour often rewarded in business, politics and other highly competitive environments.
According to publisher Canelo’s official page for the book, it was published in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2026, through August Books. The book is written as a deliberately provocative guide to achieving success by adopting manipulative and emotionally detached behaviour.
Anderson applies the same argument to football. He believes the best teams are often those most capable of shutting out fear, public criticism and concerns about how their behaviour will be perceived.
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“Psychopaths are ruthlessly outcome-focused. Results matter and everything else is secondary,” Anderson wrote.
The terminology is used rhetorically rather than as a clinical assessment of players. His wider point is that successful athletes must sometimes separate emotion from decision-making, particularly when a tournament reaches its most pressurised stages.
Remaining calm when the pressure rises
Penalty shootouts provide one of the clearest examples of the mindset Anderson describes.
“While normal people imagine disaster, psychopaths remain emotionally detached,” he wrote.
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England’s history in shootouts has long been associated with anxiety, hesitation and painful tournament exits. Anderson contrasted that record with Germany, who had never lost a World Cup penalty shootout when his article was published on June 8.
That claim, however, is no longer correct.
According to FIFA’s match report from Germany’s round-of-32 meeting with Paraguay, Paraguay defeated Germany 4-3 on penalties on June 29, 2026, after the match had finished 1-1 following extra time. It was Germany’s first World Cup shootout defeat.
The result does not entirely undermine Anderson’s broader point. Germany’s previous shootout record was built over several decades and reflected an ability to perform repeatedly under extreme pressure. It does, however, show that no national side is immune to the uncertainty of penalties.
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Learning from football’s tactical revolutionaries
Anderson also points to the Netherlands of the 1970s as an example of a team prepared to reject established ideas.
Under Rinus Michels and with Johan Cruyff as captain, the Dutch introduced the world to a fluid system in which players constantly exchanged positions. Defenders were encouraged to attack, forwards were required to press and the entire team moved as a coordinated unit.
As described in FIFA’s history of Total Football, the approach reached its most influential form at the 1974 World Cup, where the Netherlands reached the final before losing to West Germany.
The original argument requires an important clarification. Although the Netherlands reached consecutive finals in 1974 and 1978, Michels and Cruyff were not responsible for both campaigns. Ernst Happel coached the team in 1978, while Cruyff did not participate in that tournament.
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Anderson’s underlying argument nevertheless remains clear: progress often comes when teams are willing to ignore convention and trust an approach that opponents do not understand.
When winning crosses the line
The most controversial part of Anderson’s theory concerns footballers who have deliberately broken the rules to help their teams.
Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal against England in 1986 remains the most famous example. Argentina went on to win the World Cup, with Maradona producing one of the tournament’s defining individual performances.
Luis Suárez made a similarly calculated intervention during Uruguay’s 2010 quarter-final against Ghana. According to FIFA’s account of the incident, Suárez used his hands to stop a goal-bound effort in the final moments of extra time. He was sent off, but Asamoah Gyan missed the resulting penalty and Uruguay eventually won the shootout.
Thierry Henry’s handball against the Republic of Ireland in 2009 is another example. According to The Guardian’s contemporary report from the World Cup play-off, Henry controlled the ball with his hand before supplying the pass that led to William Gallas scoring the goal that sent France to the 2010 World Cup.
Such incidents brought enormous criticism and cannot simply be presented as models for England to follow. They do, however, illustrate Anderson’s central theme: some players are prepared to accept personal condemnation when their actions improve their team’s chances of success.
England’s reputation for playing fair
Anderson contrasts those examples with former England striker Gary Lineker, who combined elite goalscoring with an exceptional disciplinary record.
The England International Database’s profile of Lineker records that he scored 48 goals in 80 international appearances and was never booked during his entire playing career.
Lineker’s record should not be interpreted as evidence that he lacked determination. He won the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup and scored ten goals across two editions of the tournament.
For Anderson, however, Lineker represents a broader English tendency to value fairness and respectable conduct, even when opponents may be willing to exploit every possible advantage.
The author is not calling for England to commit obvious handballs or deliberately injure opponents. His argument is instead that the team should become more streetwise, less apologetic and more comfortable operating near the limits of what the laws allow.
A test against Argentina
England’s semi-final against Argentina provides an appropriate stage on which to examine that theory.
Argentina’s football history includes extraordinary creativity, fierce competitiveness and some of the most controversial moments the World Cup has produced. England, meanwhile, have often been accused of becoming inhibited when the pressure and expectations surrounding the national team become overwhelming.
Tuchel’s side have already shown resilience during their run to the last four. They will now need composure, tactical discipline and a willingness to make difficult decisions against the defending champions.
Whether that qualifies as a psychopathic approach is open to debate. What is clear is that England can no longer afford to be passive.
After 60 years without the trophy, their challenge is to combine their footballing ability with the ruthless competitive instinct required to survive the final stages of a World Cup.
