Position: Midfielder
Born: 08.11.81
Club: Chelsea

Like England colleagues Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole is another product of the successful West Ham youth academy and all three are expected to be first-choice picks at World Cup 2006.

Cole, who joined Chelsea for £6.6million in August 2003, came into the England side for the 4-0 qualifying win over Northern Ireland and instantly impressed on the left flank.

So often a problem position for England, Cole simply flourished against the Northern Irish and also opened the scoring. He stayed in the starting line-up for the Azerbaijan game and the two US tour games, and was then England's matchwinner against Wales in Cardiff last September.

He then proved his worth again by coming off the bench to cross for Michael Owen's winning goal in the 3-2 friendly win over Argentina in Geneva.

Cole is still prone to overdo the skill from time to time but his willingness to experiment and take on defenders marks him out in Sven-Goran Eriksson's midfield.

At 24, Cole looks to have several World Cups ahead of him but as one of the most talented players of his generation, England expects him to deliver the goods in his first tournament.