Eze: Trophies give us confidence

Eberechi Eze has admitted he’s got a "different level of confidence" heading into the FIFA World Cup 2026 with England after helping Arsenal win the Premier League title.

The Three Lions midfielder played an integral role in the Gunners’ first title triumph in 22 years, scoring seven goals and assisting two more in 33 appearances during his debut season at the Emirates Stadium.

Eze’s fine form was enough to earn a place in Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad for the World Cup, with his club team-mates Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and Noni Madueke also selected for this summer’s tournament.

The Arsenal quartet weren’t the only squad members to get their hands on silverware this season, though, with Harry Kane winning the Bundesliga title and the German Cup with Bayern Munich, and Manchester City’s John Stones, Nico O’Reilly, Marc Guéhi and James Trafford lifting both the Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Marcus Rashford helped Barcelona to the La Liga title, Aston Villa trio Morgan Rogers, Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa triumphed in the Europa League, Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson won the Conference League and Ivan Toney took home the AFC Champions Elite with Al-Ahli.

Eze expects those who lifted trophies to go into the World Cup with extra belief that they can add a second star to the shirt as he prepares for his first taste of football’s biggest stage.

Asked about the importance of winning club trophies ahead of England’s opener with Croatia on Wednesday 17 June, Eze said: “I think it’s important for the players’ confidence to have that under your belt - experience winning, experience achieving what you set out to achieve.

“It gives you a different level of confidence and for a lot of players to experience that, it’s only going to help the team.”

Expanding on his own success with Arsenal, Eze added: “Every year you’re one more year experienced. You’ve got different things under your belt that are important for the next stage.

“Winning gives you confidence, it gives you belief and trust in yourself that you can go all the way.

“This has been a season of ups and downs, and so many different things I’ve had to overcome, but an enjoyable one and something I want to experience every single year. You want to continue to improve, to get better and grow.”

Despite the confidence among the squad, Eze insists nobody is getting ahead of themselves as England prepare to begin their campaign in Dallas later this week.

Asked if the players had been talking about going all the way in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Eze said: “It’s more about focusing on what needs to be done to achieve what we want to achieve. It’s not overthinking about the future and how long we’re going to be here.

“It’s more the steps towards getting there. We all have goals of course and we know what the goal is for us but focusing on the next game and to win. That’s it.”

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