And yet, spending time with Alli as he prepared for his first World Cup, none of that seemed to play on his mind. He has already glimpsed what might await if it all goes wrong: He has been criticized, consistently, both for his temper and his occasional penchant for diving, though he might consider that he has got off lightly compared to his English teammate, Raheem Sterling, who has been attacked for everything from spending too much while shopping to his choice of tattoos to buying his mother a sink.

None of it, though, has sullied that first memory for Alli. It remains almost idyllic, that first thing that comes to him when he is asked what it means to play for England at a World Cup: that feeling of unity, of anticipation, of sunshine. “It is,” he said, “a special feeling, that you’re one of the best in the country. It’s the ultimate dream.”

There is, by common consent, something different about the English team that has been crafted by Gareth Southgate — the third national-team manager that Alli has experienced in less than three years — since he was parachuted in to replace Sam Allardyce. There is a sense of freshness, of a new beginning, of a team untainted by failures past. Alli’s optimism serves as evidence of it: an English player not just undaunted by playing for England, but actively cherishing it.

Southgate, whose players will get their first World Cup test in a Monday game against Tunisia, contends part of that comes down to the personnel. He has drafted in a host of young players; 12 of the 23 he has taken to Russia were not even at Euro 2016. Wayne Rooney has retired from international soccer; Joe Hart has been ostracized. With them gone, the last bonds with what was known as the Golden Generation — the teams that fell short so often between 2002 and 2014 — have been broken.

Southgate has suggested the style he is seeking to play has helped, too. He says he will play a three-man defense in Russia, a dangerously avant-garde move by England’s standards, with an emphasis on keeping possession. There has, he said, been “a clear shift in the identity of the team.”

But much of the change has to do with the atmosphere around the team, both the one within the squad and the one it projects to the outside world. Before England left for Russia, the country’s Football Association — with Southgate’s blessing — arranged for all 23 players to be made available for interviews with the news media.