World Cup 2026: England have shown us why they can be champions – Alan Shearer

I’ve talked before at this tournament about how England have often relied on their big-hitters to get us out of trouble.

There is nothing wrong with that, and Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham delivered yet again with their goals against Mexico.

But to go deep at this World Cup we were always going to need the other players to step up too, and they certainly did that in the last round.

Every single player who stepped on that pitch at the Azteca played their part, and Thomas Tuchel did too with his substitutions and how well they worked.

I am 55 and I’d describe that display as the best team performance I’ve seen from any England side in my lifetime, particularly away from home.

It was an absolute pleasure to be there to watch it, because it was pretty much complete, with what they had to go through from the altitude and the incredible atmosphere, then going down to 10 men.

I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed togetherness or team spirit like that – to get a result in such a tough scenario. That’s how good it was.

It was brilliant to see more of the same with the clips of the players celebrating in the dressing room afterwards, when John Stones pretended to be injured before he started dancing with the rest of the team.

I loved the reaction of Tuchel too, when he realises it’s a prank, and it’s another insight into why this team means it when they say they are together, and the manager is part of that too.

Playing Norway in Miami is going to be a different challenge altogether but what we’ve learnt from this World Cup is, whatever happens in a game, Tuchel’s England will be ready.

I don’t look at this England team and think we’ve got a set identity, in the way Spain always dominate possession or Argentina are built around Lionel Messi.

Instead, we are adaptable. So far, we have just played the game in front of us, changing our approach depending on whoever we are up against and how the game is going.

Doing that has got us to the last eight, and I don’t think it should change now.