We may have only just about gotten over that penalty miss against France in Qatar, but the world of football waits for no man, and we are now just seven months away from the 2024 edition of the European Championships, which will be hosted in Germany.

With that in mind, we here at Football FanCast have decided to take a look at the XI the Independent thought would win us the World Cup last year.

They may have made these picks a decade ago, and as we all know, prediction is a fool's game, but blimey, some of these picks are, well, let's just say, interesting.

So, let's take a look.

12 Goalkeeper – Jack Butland Rangers – Nine Caps

Okay, so as predictions go, we reckon this was a pretty smart one, and the Independent certainly weren't the only ones tipping a young Jack Butland to achieve great things for both club and country.

In 2013, the Bristol-born shot-stopper earned himself an exciting move to Stoke City after impressing for Birmingham City in the Championship. However, some dodgy loan spells at Barnsley, Leeds United and Derby County damaged his reputation, and after spending seven injury-ridden years with the Potters, he finally moved to Crystal Palace.

Unfortunately, he fared no better in the capital.

After three years that saw him make just ten Premier League appearances for the Eagles and spend six months on loan at Manchester United, he again moved on to find more playing time.

In June 2023, he joined Scottish giants Rangers, and while the team have struggled somewhat this season, Butland has been one of their stand-out performers and looks to have finally found a massive team in which he can excel.

In terms of his international career, he has earned nine senior England caps, the last of which came in 2018 against Switzerland, and we reckon that'll likely be his final cap for the Three Lions as well.

Not a bad prediction, just one hampered by injuries and what could have been.

11 Left-back – Luke Shaw Manchester United – 31 Caps

Now, while there are primarily misses on this list, including Luke Shaw, a decade ago is an unequivocal hit.

Not only has the full-back become England's starting left-back, he has also become one of the first names on the team sheet at Manchester United.

Shaw was still playing for Southampton at the time of this prediction and would spend another year down on the south coast, so this really was a great shout.

Shaw picked up his first senior cap for the Three Lions in May 2014 in a friendly against Denmark, and were it not for a litany of injuries in the intervening nine years, he would undoubtedly have many more today.

He might not have helped us win the World Cup last year, but he still could one day, right?

10 Centre-back – Nathaniel Chalobah West Bromwich Albion – One Cap

The first of our two centre-backs now, and while there was certainly some logic to picking Nathaniel Chalobah at the time, given his vast experience in the youth setup, it's still a pretty big miss.

At the time, the young defender was still at Chelsea, but with it almost impossible for him to break through then, he opted to leave in search of regular minutes.

He would go on several loans in the next few years, spending time at Burnley, Reading and even Napoli, before finally leaving on a permanent deal when he joined Watford in 2017.

Four years with the Hornets was followed by two with Fulham before he then signed for his current team, West Bromwich Albion.

He has only made one senior appearance for the Three Lions, and worse still, it was for just a single minute in a 2018 Nations League game against Spain.

9 Centre-back – Phil Jones Without a club – 27 Caps

This, again, wasn't the worst of calls; if anything, Phil Jones would likely have many more senior caps were he not so injury-prone.

His England debut came in a European qualifier against Montenegro in 2011, and in the following seven years, he would pick up 26 more, with his final two coming in the 2018 World Cup.

Jones was playing for Manchester United at the time of the prediction and was still seen as someone with sky-high potential, so we'll let them off with this pick.

8 Right-back – Chris Smalling Roma – 31 Caps

We are onto their last defensive prediction here, and you know what? It's another that doesn't look as bad as it could have in retrospect.

That said, at right-back? Not sure about that.

At the time, Chris Smalling had only been at Manchester United for two seasons, and while he wasn't playing every minute of Premier League action, he certainly looked good.

Ultimately, though, he would never fulfil his potential at Old Trafford, and the last few years of his time there were rather bleak. Had we looked back at this prediction then, we might have been a little harsher.

However, a loan move to Roma in summer 2020 revitalised the former Fulham man, and following a stellar season, he moved there on a permanent deal the following year and has looked class ever since.

His first England cap came in 2011 against Bulgaria, and his last in 2017 against Scotland.

7 Left midfield – Wilfried Zaha Galatasaray – Two Caps

Okay then, here we are, the first objective, undeniable stinker on this list, and it's only made all the funnier by the fact that the player is a regular international now, just for the wrong country.

Is there a way to be more off the mark than that?

Now, to be fair to them, Wilfried Zaha was and is an incredibly talented footballer, and we can't fault the Independent for predicting a bright international future for him at the time, but come on, the fact that they were correct, just for the wrong country is very amusing.

Zaha is currently plying his trade for Turkish giants Galatasaray, and after a slow start, he is tearing it up for them both domestically and in the Champions League.

His only two caps for Three Lions came in 2012 and 2013, totalling a massive 20 minutes of game time – we can see why he chose the Ivory Coast, to be fair.

6 Central midfielder – Jack Wilshere Retired – 34 Caps

Okay, so we are back to pretty reasonable predictions now. There was a general expectation that Jack Wilshere would be at the heart of England's midfield for the foreseeable future back in 2013, as by that point, he was firmly established as one of Arsenal's best players.

He was a fantastically gifted footballer, but one that was seemingly made of glass.

The tenacious midfielder was blighted with injuries throughout his short career and missed a shocking 315 competitive games between 2009 and 2020, averaging out at around 28 a season, per Transfermarkt.

Jack Wilshere will always be one of the quintessential 'what if' players.

Oh, and he's been retired for over a year, which would make his inclusion in an England team somewhat challenging.

5 Central midfielder – Ross Barkley Luton Town – 33 Caps

Oh dear, we are firmly back in miss territory again with the inclusion of former Everton and Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley.

We have to be somewhat fair and grant that back in 2013, Barkley was looking like one of the best up-and-coming midfielders in the Premier League, but following his move to Chelsea in January 2018, he seemed to regress into half the player he was for the Toffees.

He would make just 100 appearances across all competitions for the Blues in the four-and-a-half years before joining OGC Nice last September. Unfortunately for the 29-year-old, that move also failed, and he joined Luton Town on a one-year deal this summer.

We reckon his most recent cap against Bulgaria in 2019 might be his last.

4 Right midfield – Jordan Ibe Ebbsfleet United FC – Four Caps

The misses keep coming, and this might be the biggest yet, former Liverpool and Bournemouth winger Jordan Ibe.

While we can see where they were coming from for a lot of these picks, we really can't wrap our heads around this one. At the time of publishing their article, Ibe had made just a single senior appearance for the Reds, and while he was highly thought of, there were other more obvious choices.

Since then, Ibe moved to the Cherries for four years before cycling through several clubs, including Derby County, Turkish second division side Adanaspor, and his current side, National League outfit Ebbsfleet United.

We hope he can rediscover his form of old and fight his way back up the pyramid, but another England cap might just be a step too far.

3 Striker – Daniel Sturridge Unattached – 26 Caps

This is another choice we can't really fault them for making at the time, as the 2013/14 season was probably Daniel Sturridge's peak as a player, and to give him credit, it was an impressive one.

In 29 Premier League appearances, he scored 22 goals and provided nine assists as he formed a deadly partnership with Luis Suárez that almost won Liverpool the league.

However, as with Wilshere, injuries got the best of him, and he never reached the same heights again. He was last playing for Australian side Perth Glory but had his contract terminated after six games that brought no goals, again in part due to injury.

His 26th cap, which came against Lithuania in 2017, will likely be his last as he is still without a club.