LET’S not get ahead of ourselves thinking this World Cup is ours to lose.
I still feel that France are the favourites to go and win it.
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Jude Bellingham scored twice in England’s win over Mexico Credit: Getty
Harry Kane was also on target in another heroic performance Credit: Getty
Jordan Pickford kept Mexico at bay in a nerve-shredding ending Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Kyle Walker is a columnist for The Jattvibe for the World Cup Credit: Darren Fletcher
But England should be a bit disappointed if they don’t get to the final now.
A lot of questions were answered in our fantastic win against Mexico.
That was the performance we’d all been waiting for, not just the individuals, as a collective. Everyone put their best foot forward in what was a very difficult environment.
At the start of this campaign, there were question marks over certain players.
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There were people who actually doubted Jude Bellingham should go to the World Cup.
But big players turn up in big games and class is permanent as he showed.
It doesn’t just happen. He puts in a lot of hard work behind the scenes and you don’t play for Real Madrid for no reason.
That was his night.
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The knockout stages of the World Cup are hotting up as we head towards the business end of the tournament.
England believe football might finally be coming home after 60 years of hurt, with Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham on fire.
But the likes of France, Spain and Argentina are all serious contenders to go all the way.
Heavyweights Germany, Netherlands and Brazil have all been knocked out.
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Jordan Pickford was another who was questioned and he proved why he’s England’s number one and has been for so many years.
Jordan’s a good friend of mine and to be England goalkeeper, for the amount of years he has, and the tournaments he’s been in, is not by luck. He’s there on merit.
And when he steps in and puts an England shirt on he comes up trumps every time.
I’ve said he can be a bit lively sometimes but maybe because the atmosphere was that crazy in The Azteca, Jordan actually looked calm.
He made some great saves and applied the dark arts too. He was jumping on the ball when he needed to, slowing the game down, buying a bit of time.
Nico O’Reilly has been an unsung hero as well. He’s been absolutely tremendous.
Obviously the plaudits are going to go to the likes of Jude and Harry Kane but Nico’s gone about his business very very well.
Everyone needs to be ready at any given moment in tournament football.
Walker thinks England have a place in the final for the taking Credit: Getty
Norway and Erling Haaland stand in their way next Credit: Getty
Dan Burn and John Stones, came on when we were down to 10 in a game of such magnitude and showed what professionals they are.
To put the blocks in that they were doing, to put the bodies in front of the ball and making sure that they defend like their life is on the line is full credit to them.
You have to enjoy defending. and every one of those defenders, especially the centre backs, love defending.
I say to my fellow defenders when it’s hard that it’s put your wellies on time and you get through the mud.
These are the times that you earn your stripes as a defender
Each and every one of them could come off that field, looking each other in the face and say: “I’ve done my job there.”
But Mexico is gone now. You have your plaudits, you give yourself the pat on the back, but you bring yourself quickly back down to earth.
There’s a very important quarter-final coming up against Norway and a dangerous man up front in Erling Haaland who I know very well.
Erling has that really good ability to not touch the ball for ages then when he does he finds the back of the net.
A lot of players, myself included, get bored when they don’t have the ball but not him.
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When he’s called upon, when it’s time for him to put the ball in the back of the net, he just seems to be there.
It’s absolutely fantastic what Norway have achieved.
They’ve just beaten Brazil and their manager Carlo Ancelotti talked about how a lot of the mid table teams are being able to get results.
Obviously you’ve got the powerhouses but what Norway are doing is brilliant for the game.
To be honest I would probably have preferred to play Brazil rather than Norway.
There are spaces where you can get around them, and they don’t quite have the legs in the midfield so we could probably have run over them.
Norway though are a well organised team.
They’re not really that bothered about the ball but when they do get it, you can see that they can play.
Haaland and Odegaard are in form and that could be a real problem.
But fingers cross England put in the same performances they did against Mexico.
Two weeks ago you’d probably have said we had not chance of winning the World Cup. Not so much now.
We’ve dodged one in not being on the other side of the draw but there’s still great teams on our side of the draw.
The competition is getting harder and the players are getting better.
We’ve come close in the past and we’ve not knocked down the door as we would have liked to have done.
And while I want us to keep the lid on everything, this is a great opportunity for these England lads.
