Dan Burn says the World Cup still has not really sunk in, even with England already deep into a pre-tournament camp in Florida and the first game drawing closer by the day. The Newcastle United defender, 34, is preparing for the biggest stage of his career and says he is still trying to take it all in.
Burn joined the England squad on Monday alongside Newcastle team-mate Tino Livramento as the team began a 10-day preparation camp in Miami. It is the first time he has had a chance to settle into the rhythm of a World Cup camp, and he said the hype around it has made the moment feel real without fully landing yet.
“I am just trying to take it all in really,” Burn said. “Obviously, the hype of it. I was really excited to get here. I am just trying to take it all in and see what happens.” For a player who earned his first England call-up only last year, the move from club football to tournament preparation is still settling in. He has six caps for England and now finds himself on the edge of a competition that has been years in the making.
England are not in tournament mode yet, and Burn said that is part of why the World Cup still feels distant. The squad will work through two friendly matches before heading to its tournament base in Kansas City, with New Zealand first on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa and Costa Rica next Wednesday at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando. Burn said he expects the scale of the occasion to hit him properly once the team reaches Kansas and the build-up to the opener tightens.
“Obviously it is pre-camp now so everything is quite relaxed even if we are working hard but we are not in tournament mode yet,” he said. “I think it will happen in Kansas and the build-up to the first game where I will think: ‘Wow, this is the World Cup’.” That first game comes on Wednesday, June 17, when England open against Croatia in Dallas.
Burn was part of England's qualifying campaign under Thomas Tuchel, and he said the squad’s run of eight wins out of eight, without conceding, has helped build confidence. He also pointed to the value of being around more established tournament figures in the camp, including John Stones, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson, as he tries to absorb what the environment demands.
“That is the thing for me. I have not been in and around the environment before so just listening to lads like Stonesy, Harry and Hendo and what they are saying and trying to carry on that message,” he said. England will also face Ghana in Boston and Panama in New York in Group L, but for Burn the immediate test is simpler: get through the next few days, keep learning and wait for the tournament to stop feeling like a rehearsal.
