Leicester City fans will have their eyes glued to social media at the moment as Russell Martin edges ever closer to being unveiled as the Foxes' new manager.
But, alongside all these developments, fans of the Midlands club will also be looking forward to the 2026 edition of the World Cup, with the esteemed tournament acting as a palette cleanser, after a miserable 2025/26 season for their beloved team ended in relegation to League One.
Once upon a time, the England squad rocking up to such a famed competition would have some Leicester representation, as well, with the 2018 roster seeing Jamie Vardy lead the line for the Three Lions, only a few years on from the Foxes' insane Premier League title triumph.
He never really looked at home on such a daunting stage, unfortunately, with the 2018 World Cup out in Russia his only taste of playing for his nation in such a grand setting.
Vardy's unremarkable form for England
When you think of Vardy, you instantly think of goals being powered home with ease.
For Leicester, the goals kept coming at a rapid pace, with 200 strikes next to his name from 500 King Power appearances. Therefore, the expectation would've been that Vardy would light up international tournaments for England with this red-hot goalscoring prowess.
Amazingly, though, only one of his seven goals for the Three Lions would come in an international tournament, as he scored the leveller for England in the 2016 Euros when playing Wales in the group stage.
Other than that, all of his strikes for his nation would come in insignificant friendlies, with four World Cup outings passing him by in Russia without a single goal to show for his efforts.
Vardy's 2018 World Cup numbers:
Stat | Vardy |
|---|---|
Games played | 4 |
Minutes played | 157 mins |
Goals scored | 0 |
Sometimes, red-hot goalscorers in the Premier League don't always bag strikes by the bucket load for their country, with Ian Wright only scoring nine times for England, all while having a distinguished top-flight career.
The Sheffield-born striker will always be idolised by Leicester fans, even if he never became the nation's darling at a World Cup.
But, even with the 39-year-old becoming a free agent very soon, he won't be returning to the League One outfit this summer.
No sentimental Leicester return either for Vardy
The hope this off-season was that the veteran attacker would be up for a sentimental return to the club where he became an England international, and a one-time Premier League champion.
Unfortunately, while that script sounded great in theory, it hasn't played out like that in reality, with Vardy pouring cold water over the idea of a romantic reunion recently.
The 39-year-old said, when speaking on his new podcast 'Jamie Vardy's Having A Party': "Nah that's gone. I'll always support them and follow them, that's the best thing I can do now."
It will be intriguing to see what club the ageing marksman calls home next, therefore, with the Leicester great clearly still a competent goalscorer, despite his bones creaking, with seven strikes collected for Cremonese last season.
Whoever he does move onto next, he will be cheering the Foxes on from afar, with Vardy no doubt keen to see England do well at the World Cup under Tuchel, having jetted off to the World Cup previously under Gareth Southgate's memorable, yet trophy-shy, reign.
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