World Cup 2018: This is just the beginning for England says Gareth Southgate

The Three Lions play their first World Cup semi in 28 years on Wednesday night

Gareth Southgate believes that England’s experiences at the World Cup this summer will set the standard for an exciting new era of English football.

England play their first World Cup semi in 28 years on Wednesday night, and whatever happens, Southgate is confident that this run the semi-finals will be “a great reference point” for England teams of the future. And with England having won the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups in 2017, Southgate trusts that the next generation will have more belief, and higher expectations, when it comes to challenging at the serious end of tournaments.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference at the Luzhniki Stadium on Tuesday night, Southgate was thrilled with how many “barriers” his team have broken down during the campaign so far. He wants them to keep pushing, no matter where it ends up. There is a strong sense with this campaign that England are breaking fresh ground, making “several pieces of history”, in Southgate’s words. But in doing so, this young England team are making it easier for the next generation to follow them.

“We are enjoying the journey,” Southgate said. “We’ve been one of the youngest teams in the tournament, the least experienced, but we were never quite sure how far this team could go. The improvement and the hunger in the players is very clear for everyone to see. We’ve made several pieces of history: Biggest win in the tournament, first knockout win for 10 years, first quarter-final win for longer. We keep looking to break the barriers down. It’s been an enjoyable journey, and we want to keep it going.”

Southgate has a long history working with the Football Association, as Under-21 manager and before that as head of elite development. He has driven and overseen changes which are now starting to bear fruit, with the success of the youth group teams in recent years and now the seniors this summer. That is rewarding for Southgate but it also sets a new standard - “a reference point” - for all England teams to follow in the future, inspired by the example of the 2018 World Cup.

“We made a lot of changes with the national teams, too many to highlight, but lots of changes that helped us to be successful,” Southgate said. “We believe we have to continue doing that, to constantly evolve and improve.”

“This team, the same. The experiences of the last few weeks, the milestones they’ve hit, will be a great reference point moving forward. The more big games we are involved in, the more pressure situations they’re involved in and emerge from successful, the more belief it will build.”

Southgate believes the sky is the limit for English football (AFP/Getty Images)

This summer’s success comes after a historic year for England teams. England won the Under-17 World Cup, European Under-19 Championship and Under-20 World Cup, with three squads of players who have benefited from changes made to English junior and academy football in recent years. With those players set to start moving towards the Under-21s and senior international sides in the future, Southgate believes they will bring a new winning mentality, which will only strengthen the senior team.

“We have a core group of young players in this squad we believe will take us forward,” he said. “And others coming through the age group teams with good experiences, who have belief they can win, but also expectations that we should be in quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals more regularly. That’s what we wanted to do with our younger teams. All of that work is great, but you really have to achieve at senior level in the end for that to be fulfilled. We have a great opportunity now to get to the final.”

Jordan Henderson has seen these improvements first-hand and hailed the “bright” future as those youngsters move towards the senior team. “I’ve obviously watched younger age groups in the tournaments, there are some fantastic players coming through, it’s a very exciting time for English football,” he said.

“Hopefully they can continue to grow and learn and do it on the biggest stages in the World Cup and Euros when the opportunity comes. It’s looking bright, definitely. Our squad now is very young, very talented, and this experience can give so much confidence to the group. I hope we can use this experience to keep improving and win some trophies along the way."