Comedian Rob Beckett believes England are still the underdogs in the World Cup but could end up sneaking victory. He told the Mirror: 'I think England can get to the final, but I do think France are the favourites. But it's been a brilliant tournament so far, I'm loving it.'
Beckett Watches England Win in New York
Beckett, 40, was in New York for England's triumphant defeat against Mexico to reach the quarter-finals. He watched the action with Gary Lineker and contributed to Lineker's podcast, The Rest Is Football. 'Yeah, that was good fun,' he said. 'The Mexico game was just unbelievable, such a crazy game in every way.'
He admitted struggling to watch all matches because they are on so late: 'I tend to watch them in the morning before the kids go to school. And I think that's fair enough - I reckon a lot of people just pretend they've watched them live!'
Family Fully Invested in the Tournament
Beckett, who shares two daughters with wife Lou, a former secondary school history teacher, said: 'After the Mexico game my two were like, Dad, we're against Norway next you know - and we're really worried, because Haaland is so good! Safe to say, my girls are fully invested.'
Unlike previous tournaments, the Mottingham-born star - known as the 'Mouth of the South' - has been behaving himself regarding wild celebrations. He famously went viral for drunken antics after England's 2-0 win over Germany at Euro 2020, ending with him eating KFC beside a bin on a London street at 1am. 'Yes, I have had my dalliances with being worse for wear on social media during England games,' he laughed. 'I've got form. But that was a whole five years ago and I still to this day have people just shouting, “Chicken.” at me.'
Beckett Defends England Players
Beckett, set to appear in the next series of Celebrity Traitors alongside pal Romesh Ranganathan, said he loves football's ability to unite the country. He thinks England stars do not deserve their bad reputation: 'I think everyone just sort of assumes that they're not real, not connected to the real world. But I've met a lot of them now. They're just normal people, doing extraordinary things.'
'I mean, look at Harry Kane - he's just such a genuinely nice, very focused person. Jack Grealish is another really good lad. I'm a bit older than them now, so it kind of feels like they're your younger brothers.' He added: 'They're extremely talented, but they're also just normal blokes - and everything they do is totally under the microscope. They earn fortunes of money, which again comes with its own problems. If people know you're on £200k a week, suddenly people want a piece of you. So, it's an amazing lifestyle, but I reckon it's harder than you think. It's like anybody in the public eye - there's always a trade-off, somewhere.'
