MX23RW : Thursday, May 23 23:04:11| >> :120:11636:11636:

Alan Shearer: 'England cannot start plotting route to World Cup final'

Alan Shearer insists that fans cannot follow the "arrogant" philosophy of England plotting their way to the latter stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Alan Shearer has criticised the "arrogant" school of thought suggesting that England can plot their way to the latter stages of the World Cup.

The Three Lions finished second in Group G following their 1-0 loss to Belgium on Thursday, Adnan Januzaj scoring a second-half winner for the Red Devils.

Ahead of the game, there were suggestions that neither team particularly wanted to finish first as the Group G winner would face either Brazil or Mexico in the quarter-finals, while the other team would play Sweden or Switzerland.

Speaking ahead of the last-16 tie against Colombia, England legend Shearer has urged people not to get ahead of themselves in assuming that any of the three teams in the first two knockout stages will be easy to beat.

"I don't think we can start picking and plotting our route to the final and say we only have to beat Sweden or Switzerland in the quarter-finals and we are in the last four," Shearer told BBC Sport.

"With our record at major tournaments, how on earth can we be so arrogant to look ahead like that, or think we will roll anyone over?

"England have won two knockout games at World Cups since 1990 - against Denmark in 2002 and Ecuador in 2006 - so, before we get carried away, let's deal with Colombia first."

England were famously beaten 2-1 by Iceland - then ranked 34th in the world - in the last 16 of Euro 2016.

ID:329529: cacheID:329529:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2475:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
 England's Raheem Sterling in action with Panama's Fidel Escobar on June 24, 2018
Read Next:
Shearer: 'Sterling has to do better'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CManchester CityMan City38287396346291
2Arsenal38285591296289
3Liverpool382410486414582
4Aston Villa382081076611568
5Tottenham HotspurSpurs382061274611366
6Chelsea381891177631463
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle381861485622360
8Manchester UnitedMan Utd38186145758-160
9West Ham UnitedWest Ham381410146074-1452
10Crystal Palace381310155758-149
11Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton381212145562-748
12Bournemouth38139165467-1348
13Fulham38138175561-647
14Wolverhampton WanderersWolves38137185065-1546
15Everton38139164051-1140
16Brentford38109195665-939
17Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest3899204967-1832
RLuton TownLuton3868245285-3326
RBurnley3859244178-3724
RSheffield UnitedSheff Utd38372835104-6916


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!