‘I didn’t actually mind playing on the left - but with England it was different, I just wasn’t enjoying playing for England. Do I regret stopping early? Yeah, I probably do’ Paul Scholes on why he REALLY retired from international duty

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The former Manchester United midfielder turned out 66 times for the Three Lions

Paul Scholes celebrates after scoring for England against Portugal at Euro 2000.
Paul Scholes celebrates one of his 14 England goals (Image credit: Getty Images)

For most players, earning 66 caps for England would be the culmination of years of hard graft and the realisation of their potential.

But while Paul Scholes enjoyed a trophy-laden domestic career with Manchester United and was one of the most talented players of his generation anywhere in the world, it’s hard to argue that his Three Lions career reflected the nature of his talent.

Scholes was part of England’s so-called ‘Golden Generation’, that star-packed side of the mid-2000s who would so often hit a quarter-final ceiling at international tournaments.

Scholes on his England career

David Beckham, David James, Paul Scholes and Steven Gerrard line up before an England match

Scholes was part of England's so-called 'Golden Generation' (Image credit: Getty Images)

Scholes made his Three Lions debut in 1997 and would play at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, plus the 2000 and 2004 European Championships, only to retire from international duty at the end of that latter tournament.

With Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard occupying the central midfield berths at that time, Scholes often found himself shunted out wide as the answer to England’s left-sided problem. So was that why he hung up his international boots so early?

Paul Scholes

Scholes celebrating his final England goal which came against Croatia at Euro 2004 (Image credit: PA)

"No, a lot of people make that assumption, but I played on the left for United loads of times when Giggsy was injured,” Scholes tells FourFourTwo.

“I didn’t actually mind playing there, especially for United. I scored a lot of goals from that position for United, but with England it was different, we just played a different type of football.

“I just wasn’t enjoying playing for England.”

Scholes’ final game for England came after the Three Lions lost on penalties to Portugal in the Euro 2004 quarter-final, with the midfielder aged just 29.

He would go on to play another nine seasons with the Red Devils, so does he now regret calling time on his England career so early?

Paul Scholes

Scholes played another nine seasons after retiring from England duty (Image credit: Getty Images)

"A little bit,” he admits. “I just wish my England career could have been better really, that’s my one regret.

“Do I regret stopping early? Yeah, I probably do, but I wasn’t liking it at the time, I’d just had three young kids, and I wasn’t enjoying going away and playing with England. It was different to Manchester United.

The Good, The Bad & The Football with Scholes, Butt and McGuinness is a new weekly video podcast, available on all major podcast platforms and YouTube

Joe Mewis
Joe Mewis

For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others and worked at FourFourTwo throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown.

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