England skipper Wayne Rooney announced on Tuesday that the 2018 World Cup in Russia would be his last major tournament. The 30-year-old forward is the Three Lions' all-time top scorer with 53 goals in 115 games.
The 1966 world champions suffered an embarrassing exit at the hands of Iceland in the round of 16 in Euro 2016. Despite being a part of highly fancied teams over the last 13 years, Rooney's England have never gone past the quarter-finals of any tournament; the side has been notorious for under-performing in major tournaments.
Rooney's own form has also come under the scanner, and he was deployed as a central midfielder by former England boss Roy Hodgson during the recently concluded Euros. Rooney, who will be 32 by the time the 2018 World Cup comes up, was quoted by The Guardian as saying, "Realistically, I know myself that Russia will be my last opportunity to do anything with England. Hopefully I can end my time with England on a high."
New England boss Sam Allardyce persisted with Rooney as skipper despite the latter receiving plenty of flak during the last few months. Rooney said, "I said before the Euros I enjoyed playing in this team, and that’s the case still. There were some questions about whether I should stop playing, but I am looking forward to getting back on the pitch."Rooney concluded by saying, “My mind is made up … Russia will be my last tournament.” England will be playing their first group match of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia on Sunday.