Speaking of a ‘favourites group’, Martinez believes there are several countries who could cause England problems at the World Cup, including one national team that is yet to secure their place in the tournament.
“Argentina, Brazil are two teams that are competitive, they always find a way,” Martinez continued. “Germany, for me in Europe, they are making huge progress under their coach, [Julian] Nagelsmann.
“Obviously Italy, they are in the playoffs but if they qualify, they will be a team that can go all the way. They’ve got these extremes, they won the Euros [in 2021], then they don’t qualify in either of the World Cups [in 2018 and 2022], either side of the Euros.
“And you have to accept that teams like France and probably Spain now, they are number one in the [FIFA] world rankings, they should probably be the favourites out of anybody just because of their historic past, the belief that their national teams have, the players that have won every single tournament at youth level, and they just won the Euros [in 2024] with quite a distinctive superiority.”
England – alongside Martinez’s Portugal – will find out who they will play at the World Cup when the draw takes place on Friday 5 December in the United States, with the ceremony starting at 17:00 GMT (12:00 local time).