Michael Owen has reflected on England's most painful near-misses during the so-called Golden Generation era, pinpointing two tournaments where the Three Lions genuinely could have lifted major silverware. The former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker, who represented England across five major tournaments, believes 2002 World Cup in Japan and 2004 European Championship in Portugal represented the squad's best opportunities to end the nation's 60-year wait for an international title.
Owen's international career began memorably at the 1998 World Cup, where he became England's youngest tournament goalscorer at just 18 years old. His strike against Argentina in the last 16 remains iconic, yet that match ended in penalty shootout defeat following David Beckham's red card. "Everything that could go wrong went wrong," Owen reflected on that campaign. "We had a red card, we lost on penalties, we had a perfectly good goal disallowed against Argentina. We really should have gone through that."
The 2002 Missed Opportunity
By the time Sven-Goran Eriksson led England to Japan in 2002, the squad had evolved into a genuine continental force. Owen, Beckham, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard formed a formidable core that Owen now views as his era's most complete team. The draw, however, proved brutal: England faced Brazil in the group stage—the eventual champions. Despite that obstacle, Owen believes the path to the final was achievable. "We basically needed to beat one team," he explained. "On the other side of the draw, you had Germany, who we had just beaten 5-1. You had Turkey and South Korea and it opened up on the other side. I do almost think we were one game there away from winning it."
Portugal 2004 and the Rooney Factor
Four years later, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney joined the squad for the European Championship in Portugal. England led 1-0 against the hosts, but Rooney suffered an injury just 15 minutes into the match, ultimately costing the team dearly in a penalty shootout defeat. "Even Portugal, when we played in Portugal, we should have beaten Portugal," Owen said. "Wazza got injured after 15 minutes or whatever. We were 1-0 up. That could have been Greece in the final. That was another one."
Owen dismisses 2006 as a genuine regret following his own injury during that tournament, while the 1998 disappointment, though agonising, felt beyond the team's control. The contrast with recent England history is striking: Gareth Southgate guided the nation to three finals in four years, achieving what the Golden Generation could not, yet failing to convert those opportunities. Now Thomas Tuchel inherits a rebuilt squad targeting the 2026 World Cup, armed with the lessons of past failures and determined to finally deliver where Owen's generation fell short.
