• “We have said to the team this week, ‘If we can get to a semi-final, we can get to a final, and we did. If we can get to a final, we can win,’” Southgate told British media on Thursday.
• England have won the World Cup only once, beating West Germany in the 1966 final at Wembley.
England manager Gareth Southgate said they can win the World Cup in Qatar but will have to be “close to perfect” to do so.
England were semi-finalists at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and reached the final of the European Championship last year, where they lost to Italy.
“We have said to the team this week, ‘If we can get to a semi-final, we can get to a final, and we did. If we can get to a final, we can win,’” Southgate told British media on Thursday.
“To do that is incredibly difficult and we’ll have to be as close to perfect as can be. That’s the challenge for us, not just when we get to Qatar, because we’ve got to be in the right condition, even before that.”
The World Cup draw is set to be held in Doha later on Friday. The showpiece tournament will be played from November 21-December 18.
England have won the World Cup only once, beating West Germany in the 1966 final at Wembley.
“We’ve definitely got respectability and I think we will be a team other teams wouldn’t look forward to playing,” Southgate added.
“But that’s a double-edged sword though because some teams are going to prepare differently for you.”
Meanwhile, China did not qualify for the World Cup and they will not find it any easier to reach the next showpiece in four years due to their failure to develop quality young players, said former captain Feng Xiaoting.
China, who finished second from bottom of their group in the final round of Asian qualifying, winning one of 10 games, have played at the World Cup just once, when they were knocked out in the group stage in 2002.
“For sure, our next campaign will be more difficult, because our youth are not good enough,” Feng said.
“If they are not among the top four in Asia, you cannot expect good performances from them.”
The 2026 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States. It will be the first edition to include 48 teams, expanded from 32.