World Cup 2026: What is SkyJo? The card game being played in the England camp
While England try to play their game the right way on the field, their off-field play plays an important role in team bonding.
While the focus in the World Cup group stage was on Croatia, Ghana and Panama, the players’ free time was spent on Wolf, SkyJo and Imposter.
England’s players attend games in their spare time to strengthen team bonding, which could be crucial if they want to go far in the tournament.
The team is two weeks into their stay at the World Cup base camp in Kansas City. If they reach the final, they can stay there for another three weeks; That’s why it’s so important to keep them entertained away from the training ground.
In previous tournaments players have played Wolf, a game similar to BBC’s The Traitors.
When they played against Spain in preparation for the Euro 2024 final, the team received a message from Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman.
Wolf is also on England’s game menu during this World Cup – but SkyJo and Imposter are new additions to keep players entertained when not on the training pitch under the watchful eye of Thomas Tuchel and his staff.
Morgan Rogers told BBC Sport that players turned to SkyJo, a numbers-based card game focused on getting low scores, after Jude Bellingham brought it to camp.
“A few of us played cards yesterday when we rode our bikes to a coffee shop,” Rogers said.
“Jude got it, it’s a little different. I’ve never seen it before but we’re hooked right now.”
Aston Villa forward Rogers was happy to talk about his match with Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Dan Burn, Anthony Gordon and Elliot Anderson; especially because he won.
In the game, players collect and exchange cards until one reaches over 100 points; The player with the lowest score at this stage wins.
It’s all part of trying to ensure players have the best mental framework to tackle the serious job of chasing World Cup success.
The England team added a few personal touches to the players’ rooms, including photos of family members, ensuring the team made the most of their non-football time in the US.
For example, Tuchel, along with captain Harry Kane, Djed Spence and defender Burn, went to baseball team Sporting KC, whose ground is close to their base camp.
Meanwhile, Burn and Kane went to see a concert by country artist Ella Langley.
Tuchel placed emphasis on creating a club atmosphere when the Three Lions joined and Brentford midfielder Henderson added extra insight into how the team bonds by playing games on the way to training.
He said they were involved in a game called Imposter, in which a secret word was sent via an app to everyone except one player. The task then is for the other players to find out who is in the darkness.
Henderson plays an important role in building team morale; Rogers says he and the former Liverpool midfielder have formed a tight-knit group with Bellingham.
“While me and Jude are arguing with each other, he’s looking at us,” Rogers said.
“We call him uncle [uncle] “He’s not happy with this situation right now.”
Rogers is in contention for the 10th starting spot Bellingham has held for England at the World Cup so far.
The pair, who both grew up in the West Midlands, have known each other since childhood.
When asked what it was like to compete with his friend for a spot on the team, Rogers said, “Honestly, I wish it wasn’t a rivalry.”
“Yeah, we’re really close. We spend almost all the time together, in our free time and stuff.
“And it’s one of those things. I know we play similar positions. I actually think we can play with each other.
“So I don’t think it’s necessarily between me and him. Yes, we play similar positions, but I thought he could play different positions too, so could I.”
“And I think we can do that to the best of our ability when necessary. So we’ll see how the tournament continues to move forward and evolve.”
