There was a lot of doom and gloom heading into the World Cup in Qatar, with most England fans pessimistic about their chances of lifting the trophy for the first time since 1966.
The landscape appears to have changed however as the Three Lions have been one of the most impressive teams in Qatar, and confidence is growing that this might actually be the year that football comes home.
England shook off a slow start to book their place in the quarter finals on Sunday with a rampant 3-0 victory over Senegal.
England reached the quarter finals of the World Cup with a 3-0 victory over Senegal on Sunday
Now they gear up for the stage of the tournament where many expected the Three Lions to crash out and have done so many times in the past – the quarter finals.
Standing in the way of a second consecutive semi finals appearance is one of the tournament’s heavy favourites – reigning World Cup holders France.
Despite the massive challenge that they face on Saturday, there is plenty of reason for supporters to believe in the Three Lions – in what would arguably be their most impressive win on paper in Southgate’s reign as manager.
Sportsmail looks at the reasons why England fans should be cheerful, going into Saturday’s crunch quarter final match.
The Three Lions now gear up for their toughest test in Qatar, as they face in-form reigning World Cup holders France who are led by the tournament’s top scorer Kylian Mbappe
England have scored more goals than anyone
One criticism of Gareth Southgate’s time in England is that they don’t score enough goals.
There had been some concern over this going into Qatar after a dire Nations League campaign where England scored four goals in six matches – three of which came in a 3-3 draw with Germany.
However, England have stood up where it counts most with Bukayo Saka’s goal against Senegal their 12th in four matches.
Ignoring the blip that was the goalless draw against the United States, England have scored atleast three goals in every match (6-2 vs Iran, 3-0 vs Wales and 3-0 vs Senegal).
It is also the joint-most goals they have scored at World Cup – tied with the 12 they also scored under Southgate in Russia four years ago.
Granted tougher opposition is to come, but the goals are coming from all sources.
France have scored the second most goals in the tournament with nine, with Les Bleus also yet to face top opposition.
England have scored as many goals as anyone in the tournament with 12, with Jordan Henderson and Jude Bellingham among the eight players to find the back of the net
They have also kept the most clean sheets
The biggest worry for many an England fan going into the World Cup was the state of the defence.
Their main cause for concern was the fact that Gareth Southgate would start Harry Maguire – a player who has been out-of-form for Manchester United for more than a year and has rarely played this season.
It was even suggested that England would have to play five at the back to negate their defensive woes. That has yet to happen and it will be interesting to see if Southgate decides to switch it up on Saturday.
Jordan Pickford and Harry Maguire have both impressed as part of a defensively sound team
But for now, the Three Lions have kept more clean sheets than anyone at this tournament with three.
They have also only conceded twice – one of which was a dubious penalty in the opener against Iran – with only Brazil, Croatia, Morocco and the eliminated Tunisia conceding less.
Maguire has justified his inclusion in the team by Southgate and like previous tournaments and has been one of the star performers.
Jordan Pickford is another player who always seems to deliver for the Three Lions and he made a crucial save at 0-0 against Senegal.
Southgate has won as many knockout games in three tournaments as England did from 1968 to 2016
Almost unbelievably, England have won more knockout games at major tournaments in the last four as they did in a 48-year period from 1968 to 2016.
After lifting the trophy on home soil in 1966, the Three Lions did not win a knockout game again until 1986 with a 3-0 victory over Paraguay.
England then defeated Belgium and Cameroon in 1990, Denmark in 2002, Ecuador in 2006, and their only knockout victory in the European Championships against against Spain at Euro 96 at Wembley.
Under Southgate, England have seen off Colombia and Sweden at the 2018 World Cup Germany, Ukraine and Denmark at Euro 2020, and now Senegal in Qatar.
Southgate yet to lose a knockout game in 90 minutes
The previous stat is not the only impressive stat for the sometimes maligned England manager.
Southgate became the first manager in England’s history to win ten games at major tournaments.
He is also yet to lose a knockout game in 90 minutes, with his exits in the previous two tournaments coming in extra time to Croatia in 2018 and on penalties at the Euro 2020 final to Italy.
Gareth Southgate’s England have as many knockout victories in three competitions since he took the job as England have in the 48-year-period between Euro 1968 and Euro 2016
Harry Kane is England’s top scorer in major tournaments
By scoring England’s second goal against Senegal on Sunday, Harry Kane overtook Gary Lineker as England’s top scorer at major tournaments.
He ended his goal drought in Qatar to score his seventh World Cup goal in ten games – after scoring six in Russia on his way to winning the Golden Boot at that year’s tournament.
Kane also has scored four goals at the European Championships.
The 29-year-old is now one goal short of equalling Wayne Rooney (53) as England’s all-time record scorer.
Kane’s 52 goals have come in just 79 caps – compared to Rooney who netted his 53 in 120 caps.
Harry Kane overtook Gary Lineker in the all-time scoring charts for England at tournaments
England have a gem in Jude Bellingham
The Borussia Dortmund midfielder put in an incredible performance against Senegal on Sunday.
Jude Bellingham has accomplished a number of impressive feats during his time in Qatar
He set up mentor Jordan Henderson for his opener before his weaving run led to England’s second goal against the African nation.
Jude Bellingham also broken a number of records and achieved a number of impressive feats in Qatar.
He became the second teenager (19y 158d) to start a knockout game for England, after Michael Owen (18y 198d) against Argentina in 1998.
Bellingham also became the youngest player to assist in a World Cup game for England since 1966 when England lifted the trophy.
The 19-year-old became the first player to score a goal and provide an assist at a World Cup before turning 20, since Lionel Messi did so in 2006.
He also has a 100% tackle success rate with no player making more successful tackles than the England midfielder (11).
Bellingham has received rave reviews from his team-mates, pundits and fans after his display against Senegal, and it’s no wonder why most of Europe’s biggest clubs appear to be linked with him.
Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford’s double act
The Arsenal star’s goal against Senegal put him on three goals for this World Cup – tied with Marcus Rashford.
In doing so, they became the first England team-mates since David Platt and Gary Lineker at Italia’ 90 to both net at least three goals at a single World Cup.
Before 1990, this accomplishment had only been reached once before by England team-mates, with 1966 seeing Geoff Hurst net four goals, while Roger Hunt and Bobby Charlton both found the net on three occasions.
It would be no surprise to see a third player join Rashford and Saka on three goals – to match the feat of the 1966 winners.
The most likely to do so is Kane now he has got off the mark against Senegal.
Bukayo Saka and Marcus Rashford have both scored three goals at the World Cup in Qatar
England have EIGHT different scorers
Goals are coming from all angles for England at this World Cup in Qatar.
The Three Lions have eight different players who have found the back of the net in their four games so far.
Saka and Rashford have scored three goals, while Bellingham, Foden, Grealish, Henderson, Kane and Sterling all have found the net once each.
Saturday’s opponents France have just three – though two of those Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud, have both netted atleast three times with the PSG star topping the scoring charts on five.
The closest that any other team still in the tournament has to the number of scorers England have is Spain and Holland who both have six.
France have just three goal scorers in Qatar compared to England’s eight though Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe have netted an impressive eight goals between them in four games
ITV curse has been partially lifted
The curse of ITV still stands when you compare it to games shown on BBC, but England’s 3-0 victory over Senegal has made the stats less miserable to look at.
England have now won seven out of 29 games that have been shown on ITV – a 24% win rate since 1998.
Before the Senegal game, since 1998, England had won just two of their 15 World Cup matches on ITV – compared with an astounding 12 out of 16 on the BBC.
That will come as some relief for Three Lions as their next game against France is also to be shown on ITV on Saturday.
ITV’s miserable England win percentage improved with Sunday’s victory against Senegal
Semi-finals in 2018, finalists last year… winners in 2022?
Southgate’s side lost in the semi-finals in Russia 2018, lost in the final at last year’s European Championships, so any further step forward and they will be lifting the trophy in Qatar come December 18.
The England manager has been making all the right calls so far at this tournament and the Three Lions have one of the most stacked teams in terms of squad depth compared to any of their challengers this winter.
Though England drew with the USA, the other favourites for this tournament have all suffered shock defeats – even if some were heavily changed squads.
France lost to Tunisia, Brazil to Cameroon, Argentina to Saudi Arabia, Portugal to South Korea and Spain to Japan.
If the Three Lions are to see off the tough challenge of France, then they will feel like they can beat anyone else put in their path on the way to the final on December 18.
Southgate’s side are yet to lose in Qatar while other tournament contenders including France, Brazil, Spain and Portugal have all been on the end of shock defeats during the tournament
England will be hoping to go one better than Euro 2020 by lifting the World Cup in Qatar