Would England have won the 2022 World Cup if they had Sam Allardyce, rather than Gareth Southgate, in the dugout during the showpiece international tournament? Well, the man himself probably still believes so.

Prior to the most-recent World Cup which was, of course, won by Lionel Messi and his Argentina teammates, Allardyce named the England XI that he felt would go all the way in Qatar. Finalists at Euro 2020, the Three Lions were among the pre-World Cup favourites but eventually fell at the quarter-final stage, losing 2-1 to France.

A late goal from Olivier Giroud resulted in another dose of major tournament heartbreak for England, who have experienced more than their fair share of bitter disappointments since the last time they were crowned world champions in 1966. Southgate remains head coach and is expected to be in charge for Euro 2024, but speculation is rife that this will be his final competition as manager.

READ MORE: Gareth Southgate’s 12 potential replacements ranked on chances of getting job

It’s important to note that Allardyce - best known for his long career as a Premier League manager with the likes of Bolton Wanderers and West Ham - had his chance of managing England, only for his contract to be terminated by mutual consent following allegations of malpractice. He won the only game of his ill-fated 67-day reign: a 1-0 victory over Slovakia thanks to a late Adam Lallana goal. Southgate then replaced Allardyce and the rest is history.

"Yeah, there's no doubt about that [the biggest regret of his managerial career]," Allardyce told Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday in October 2017. "Legally, it is a difficult subject for me to talk about at the minute but I think to say one thing personally: I don't think I should have left.

"I can't go any deeper than that but since it happened, people from my point of view have had a good, long look at it and clearly, if a little bit more patience had been shown, I believe I should have still been there.

"I think about it a lot. Especially when the England games come up and I've just been able to watch them again recently. It was a really sad moment for me, having worked so hard to get to the pinnacle in my career - you're never going to get a job at a top club if you're English - so to get the England job is the pinnacle of your career."

Sam Allardyce's England XI for 2022 World Cup

We’ll never know for certain whether things would have been better or worse for England if Allardyce had remained in charge of the national team. But speaking on William Hill’s and Footy Accumulators’ No Tippy Tappy Football podcast alongside his former assistant Sammy Lee, per The Sun, Big Sam was asked if he could win the World Cup as England manager.

His answer to that question was emphatic: "Yes, definitely. With this squad, yes.” Allardyce then proceeded to name his starting XI, so let’s take a closer look at which players he would have selected.

Goalkeeper: Jordan Pickford

No real surprise here as Allardyce confirmed: "We’d go for Jordan Pickford in goal.” The Everton goalkeeper has never let England down, particularly at major tournaments, and remains Southgate’s No. 1.

Is there a chance that he could lose his place before Euro 2024? Yes - particularly if Everton have a disastrous season, which is beginning to look likely at this stage. The likes of Aaron Ramsdale, Nick Pope, Dean Henderson and James Trafford will be hoping to get their opportunity.

Defenders: Reece James, Harry Maguire, Conor Coady and Luke Shaw

Conor Coady is a bold shout, although the centre-back - who now plies his trade with Leicester City in the Championship - was also part of Southgate’s World Cup squad. Meanwhile, Harry Maguire has struggled badly at Manchester United but that hasn’t prevented him from performing well for his country.

Reece James and Luke Shaw are solid options in the full-back areas. While Shaw featured in Qatar, Chelsea’s James was sadly ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

Midfielders: Declan Rice, Jude Bellingham and Mason Mount

When it came to midfield, Allardyce said: “Declan Rice in midfield and Jude Bellingham alongside him, along with Mason Mount.” Southgate deployed Rice and Bellingham against France in the quarters, alongside Jordan Henderson, who was still Liverpool’s captain at the time but now plays in Saudi Arabia.

Mount replaced Henderson for the final 10 minutes against Les Bleus. While the Manchester United midfielder isn’t every England fan’s cup of tea, it’s clear that many top managers have a very high opinion of him, including Allardyce.

Forwards: Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane, and Phil Foden

"Harry Kane up front, and we’ll go with Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden,” Allardyce concluded. “We’d be celebrating with that, this team would win the World Cup." If you say so, Big Sam.

Allardyce had no room in his starting line-up for Marcus Rashford, instead opting for Foden on the left flank. Incidentally, this was the exact same front three with Southgate went for against France.

Would England have won the World Cup with Sam Allardyce?

Look, we’ll never know for certain but the answer is almost certainly no. Yes, the 68-year-old boasts a 100 per cent winning record as England manager (with the almighty caveat that he only took charge of one game) but it’s hard to imagine that he would have taken the team much further than Southgate managed.

Allardyce may have had an exceptionally high opinion of his managerial abilities and in many respects, he was a better coach than people often gave him credit for. But there are obviously no guarantees that he would have won the 2022 World Cup, especially with the centre-back pairing of Coady and Maguire.

It felt as if Argentina’s name was written on the trophy. With Messi in unstoppable form, England surely would have come up short against the GOAT and his teammates if they’d reached the final, regardless of which coach was in the dugout.