England have ‘made the impossible look possible,’ says Gareth Southgate | World

Gareth Southgate said nothing was impossible for England and urged his players to embrace the excitement of a World Cup before they face Iran in their opening game on Monday afternoon.

England’s head coach struck a positive tone as he shifted his focus to matters on the pitch, insisting his players should feel pride at representing their country on the world stage despite the controversy surrounding Qatar’s hosting of the tournament, and he was keen to move on from the negativity that has stalked his side for much of this year.

Southgate comes into this World Cup under major pressure after six games without a win. He faced fierce criticism after England’s relegation from their Nations League group in September, with the negativity summed up by fans booing him after the recent defeats against Hungary and Italy, and he is all too aware of the importance of making a strong start.

Even so Southgate was in good spirits before England’s opener in Group B, talking up their prospects and laughing off reports of Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino wanting his job.

“Maybe we’ve made the impossible look possible,” Southgate said. “It’s exciting for other people and I can understand that. We want England to be competitive for years to come and I believe that our academy system has got that.

“There are challenges within that because we’re back to 31% of the league being eligible for England and only four or five exports of a high level. There are still some challenges for us in terms of development and opportunity for players. But we have also got some good players and we should be competitive for the next six, eight years with this group.”

The buzz around England has dipped since their runs to the semi‑finals of the previous World Cup and the Euro 2020 final. Yet Southgate is optimistic. Eric Dier has acknowledged that some of the excitement has been stripped away by the issue of Qatar’s human rights record, but the mood within the England camp has felt relaxed.

“What we have tried to do in the last seven years is excite them about going to a World Cup and that has been balanced about the topics they have been asked to discuss, which are very serious,” Southgate said.

“There is a…