Fabio Capello admits Frank Lampard's World Cup ghost goal still haunts him

Fabio Capello says he still can’t get over Frank Lampard’s ghost goal from the 2010 World Cup, insisting “We don’t know where we could have ended up.”

The 2026 competition gets underway this month and the Italian is throwing his support behind Brazil – coached by fellow countryman Carlo Ancelotti – but believes England will be “dangerous” although he says France and Spain are favourites to win.

Capello led England at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when the Three Lions were eliminated in the Round of 16 after a 4-1 loss to Germany.

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Germany took the lead in the 20th minute through Miroslav Klose before Lukas Podolski doubled the advantage 12 minutes later, although England pulled one goal back through Matthew Upson in the 37th minute, who headed in a cross from Steven Gerrard.

A controversial moment then occurred in the 39th minute when a shot by Lampard was not awarded as a goal despite the ball bouncing off the crossbar and clearly crossing the line by at least a foot. There was no goal-line technology at that time.

Had the goal been awarded, England would have equalised at 2–2. Thomas Müller subsequently scored two goals in the second half, extending Germany’s lead to 4–1.

“I still can’t digest it. We’ve changed football. The goal-line technology was created after that,” Capello told Gazzetta.

“We would have come back from two goals down, and we were improving. We don’t know where we could have ended up, and I still can’t get over it.”

He added: “I’m curious about England and Germany at this World Cup.”

“It will be interesting to see if England still have the physical and mental energy for the World Cup. If they have, they can be very, very dangerous.”

As for who he thinks will do well, Capello said: “I’m rooting for Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil: he’s an incredible character, he integrates quickly into any environment, and in Brazil it’s not that simple.

“The favourites are either France or Spain, because I think they have the most quality and players who can make a difference at any time. It will be very demanding, with hot weather, so the quality will be very important.”

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