Matt Maher: England have rarely been better placed to end 60 years of hurt

This is the third World Cup in succession the Three Lions have reached at least the quarter-final stage.

The awkward format of the 1982 tournament (two group stages before the semi-finals), means you could, perhaps, make comparison with the run which included a quarter-final in 1986 before a semi-final in 1990.

But that sequence didn’t also include two appearances in European Championship finals in between.

England, make no mistake, have never been so strong in knockout football as they have over the last eight years.

Sunday’s 3-2 win over Mexico was their fifth win in a World Cup knockout fixture since 2018. In the space of three tournaments, they have doubled the tally racked up between 1970 and 2014.

Across the first 12 World Cups which followed 1966, England won knockout matches at only four. For three of those tournaments, they failed to even qualify. Whichever way you want to look at the numbers, they eventually point to the fact that for the first time in their history, the Three Lions are a consistent, serious tournament team, the type you used to look at with envy.

By any measure, the distance travelled since the embarrassment of losing to Iceland a decade ago has been colossal. Only the final step, actually winning a trophy, remains.

No question, it is the hardest but keep putting yourself in the right position at the latter stages of major tournaments and eventually, with a bit of luck, your moment may arrive.

So much of modern sport has become a science, yet no matter how meticulously a manager or team plan, matches at the highest level are so often decided by the bounce or spin of a ball.

It is why consistency is so important. We have seen it before with the Germany team which came close at Euros and World Cups before eventually getting over the line in 2014.

On a local level, you could draw comparison with Unai Emery’s Villa. Last season’s Europa League win was in effect the culmination of three campaigns which had featured their share of near misses and two previous semi-final heartbreaks.

Just as Villa’s players learned from the pain of Olympiacos and Crystal Palace, so England’s should be stronger for the final defeat to Spain two years ago.

The difference with international football, of course, is the chances for redemption come round less frequently - a major tournament once every two years, a World Cup once every four.

There are at least a couple of reasons, however, to believe this current tournament represents England’s best shot at silverware for 60 years. One of them is Jude Bellingham, the other Harry Kane.

Their presence means that, for the first time in a very long time, it is possible to argue with confidence England have two players who would get into every other team.

Without them, it is very likely their participation would already be over, with Bellingham having dragged them through against Mexico after Kane’s rescue act avoided humiliation against DR Congo.

Bellingham is hardly a new name on the block. At the age of just 23, this is his fourth major tournament.

Somehow this still feels like a breakthrough, a point any questions over his character were brushed aside and the extent of his talent laid bare.

Those who had watched him for Blues, Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid did not need telling but World Cups have a far wider reach. It is in these summers national heroes are made.

In Kane, meanwhile, England have a player who can lay serious claim to being one of the top-five in the world at present. That has never been the case at any tournament since ‘66.

What is more, he is in sensational form, coming off the back of the best season of his career at Bayern Munich.

Much as the Kane factor should bring England hope, buried within it is also a warning, a reminder of what is at stake.

Reaching the quarter-final of a World Cup should never be taken for granted. Doing so when your greatest-ever goalscorer is at the peak of his power, however, presents an incredibly rare opportunity and naturally raises the pressure.

There really is no knowing when or even if England will be in such a position again. Kane will be 36 when the next World Cup rolls around and there is no obvious, long-term replacement currently emerging from the ranks.

While France are understandably favourites, every team left in the tournament must believe they are in with a chance.

That includes Norway, who face England on Saturday off the back of the greatest result in their history having beaten Brazil in the last-16.

Admittedly, it was not a vintage Brazil team but they were stronger than any side England have faced to this point. No team, at this stage, can be under-estimated. Certainly not one with Erling Haaland leading the line.

The manner in which England saw out their win against Mexico at the Azteca has received huge praise. When placed in the context of how many Three Lions teams have folded under adversity in the past, it understandably felt like a watershed moment.

Conversely, the case could be made they allowed a match in which they were 2-0 up to become far more dramatic than it ever needed to be.

Just like many other England teams of the last 60 years, this one doesn’t like to do things the easy way. Few teams since ‘66, however, have ever had a better shot at winning a trophy.