England should have won the World Cup, admits Sven Goran Eriksson after revealing he thought his initial job offer was a prank

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Sven Goran Eriksson has told Fifa.com that England should have won the World Cup in 2006 and admitted that the first time he was offered the England job he though it was a prank.

Eriksson was England manager from 2001 until 2006 taking charge of three tournaments. He said: 'Maybe we should have done better in 2004 but for sure in 2006. No one was better than us at that time. 

'We could have reached the final but we did not do that. We lost on penalties again. I should have used a mental coach for penalties at that time. When I think about it we should have done better in 2006. We could almost have won it I think.'

Swede Sven Goran Eriksson admits England should have won the World Cup in Germany back in 2006

David Beckham is left in tears after picking up an injury during England's World Cup clash against Portugal

Both Beckham and Eriksson leave the Gelsenkirchen stadium turf dejected following their penalty defeat

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is shown the red card against Portugal by referee Horacio Elizondo

England topped their group, beating Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago before drawing with Sweden, but only scraped past Ecuador in the first knock-out round and were taken to spot-kicks by Portugal.

England lost David Beckham to injury midway through the game and had Wayne Rooney sent off. 

Frank Lampard, Stevie Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all missed penalties with Owen Hargreaves the only player for England to score.

In his first tournament Eriksson also went out at the quarter-final stage although the Swede believes they were beaten by a fluke. 

A long-range free-kick from Ronaldinho that sailed over David Seaman's head gave Brazil a 2-1 victory and Eriksson said: 'I asked him many times after that and he always said: 'Of course Sven I wanted to score from there,' but I don't believe that.'

Asked about being made the first foreign coach of the England national team Eriksson said: 'First of all I didn't believe it. 

Brazil attacker Ronaldinho shocked everybody when he launched a free kick over David Seaman and in 

Then Arsenal goalkeeper Seamen can only watch on as he misjudges the flight of the Brazilian's effort

'The first time they called me I thought it was a joke. But when they offered me the job I said to myself: 'I have to take that.'

Asked by Fifa.com who the best players he has coached Eriksson picked Joe Hart as his best keeper and Rio Ferdinand as his best defender. 'He was quick, he was strong and he was good in the air with good technique. He had everything,' he said of the former Manchester United defender. 

Eriksson picked former Roma midfielder Roberto Falcao as his best midfielder and names Didier Drogba and Wayne Rooney among his best strikers.

Eriksson is currently at Shanghai SIPG in the Chinese Super League. It is his 15th coaching job of his managerial career. 'I've been lucky,' he said. 'But the biggest job I ever had – that was England'.