England head coach Gareth Southgate says that his side are ‘further ahead’ than they were after the last qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
Following a 4-0 victory away to Kosovo this past Sunday, England finished top of their group and have qualified for Euro 2020 next summer.
MORE: Video: Harry Kane makes Kosovo pay for defensive error as he hands England 2-0 lead in Euro qualifier
Despite a fantastic World Cup campaign last year, which saw the Three Lions reach the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1996, Southgate insists his squad are in a better position now than they were ahead of the tournament in Russia.
“We’re definitely further ahead than we were heading into Russia, but we made massive strides in this period when we went into Russia.” he is quoted by BBC Sport.
An area that England have vastly improved on in their Euro qualification campaign as opposed to the World Cup, is their clinical finishing in front of goal, with Southgate’s team more than doubling their tally of 18 goals in 10 qualifying games two years ago to 37 in eight matches in this campaign.
A continuing proven goal scorer for England is captain Harry Kane who scored in every game during qualification for Euro 2020, as well as leading the pack as top scorer overall with 12 goals.