World Cup 2026: From west Cumbria to the World Cup, Carlisle is England’s goalkeeper factory

Having made his England debut in 2017, Pickford helped the team reach the World Cup semi-finals the following year in Russia and has cemented his place as manager Thomas Tuchel’s number one.

Now a veteran of the team with 85 caps at the age of 32, Carlisle played their part in his development after he joined the then-League One team on loan from Sunderland.

He only played 18 games for the Cumbria-based club but clearly left his mark.

“I remember one game in particular, we were playing at Deepdale against Preston,” said Ben Benson, who went to the game as a fan but was also part of Carlisle’s goalkeeping set-up.

“He made a mistake, one that goalkeepers up and down the country make every week.”

The stakes couldn’t have been higher in the incident Benson recalled as Pickford, aged just 19, had joined a club struggling to stay in the division.

Away to Preston he’d come for a cross and, despite seeming to have both hands on the ball, it fell from his grasp and Lee Holmes poked home to score North End’s third goal in a 6-1 success.

However, it was what Pickford did after that mistake which impressed Benson and set the tone for the rest of the season.

He added: “Once it happened, I could remember him going back to his goal. He got his towel and put it over his head for maybe five seconds.

“He took it off, put it back on, and it was almost like he’d pressed the reset button. From the moment on, I remember him being outstanding.”

Pickford’s displays weren’t enough to save Carlisle from relegation but he returned to Sunderland where he established himself as their first-choice keeper and moved to Everton in 2017 for a transfer fee reported to be £30m.

“In Jordan you see reliability and robustness first and foremost,” said Benson. “For him to have over 300 Premier League appearance and more than 80 England caps, there’s a robustness there and I think that’s very important.”