Gary Neville names England’s ‘best player by a mile’, issues verdict on Three Lions winning World Cup | OneFootball

Gary Neville has heaped praise on England star Jude Bellingham, but he thinks the Three Lions need more to win the World Cup.

On Saturday night, England faced Panama in their final World Cup group game. The Three Lions needed to match or better Ghana’s result to top the group, and they would also have been runners-up if they dropped points and Croatia won.

After failing to break down Ghana in a dull 0-0 draw earlier this week, Thomas Tuchel‘s side had similar troubles against Panama but found a breakthrough in the second half.

Bellingham was England’s standout performer against Panama and he broke the deadlock with a smart finish from a corner before assisting Harry Kane for his side’s second, with the striker now clear of Gary Lineker as his nation’s leading scorer at the World Cup.

Speaking post-match, Tuchel acknowledged that his side have improvements to make, though he suspects his best players will improve as they get deeper into the tournament.

“It’s an aggressive approach that we take,” Tuchel said.

“You have to defend your one-on-ones. But the tournament starts again now in knockouts. Now we collect our strength and energy. We build our team spirit and belief. We will step up, the bigger the games get the bigger we’ll be.”

“They’re going to have to…” Neville has lauded Bellingham as England’s “best player by a mile” against Panama, thoug he thinks other players will “have to” reach his level if they are going to win the World Cup. “Bellingham is the one player who looks in-form, he looks fresh, he’s sharp and playing at the level you would expect,” Neville said on ITV Sport. He added: “Thomas Tuchel just said ‘We will step up the biggest the games’. They’re going to have to. He won’t be walking off that pitch and thinking everything is perfect right now. “They’ve got to get together in the next four days, get Declan Rice back in the team, get the back four more solid.” Speaking during the game, Neville said: “Bellingham is an absolute superstar and our best player in this game by a mile.” Roy Keane added: “It wasn’t pretty, far from it. “England’s top players eventually turned up in the second half in Bellingham and Kan. They’re huge players for them, that’s what you want in these tight games.” On Tuchel’s selection dilemma, Keane said: “I still don’t think Tuchel has a clue what his best eleven is.”