England have booked a place in the first world cup semi final since 1990. They advanced to semi final with easy win.The chances of world cup coming home increases with every game England win.

Harry Kane had a relatively quiet game against Sweden and it was the first World Cup match he has started in and not scored. He remains on course to be the tournament's leading scorer if he can hold on to his two goal advantage over Romelu Lukaku, who is likely to be his closest competitor.

Kane has six goals, Lukaku four, Artem Dzyuba, Antoine Griezmann, Denis Cheryshev and Kylian Mbappe all have three.

The race for the Golden Ball is much tighter, and Mbappe leads the betting to become the player of the tournament. He is priced at 7/2, Kane 4/1, Neymar 6/1, Philippe Coutinho 15/2, Luka Modric 10/1, Eden Hazard 14/1 and Romelu Lukaku 25/1.

To the delight of every English fan, the team this time is too young, too unexperienced yet they reached the semifinals and that is truth. I know Harry Kane is the best striker in the competition, Dele Alli a shining star and Jordan Pickford an underrated keeper, but I admire Ivan Rakitic and Luka Modric too much not to think Croatia are slight favourite. So, can England win the World Cup? Sure they can. Will they win the World Cup? Probably Yes.

Next to the other three teams in the semi-finals, England cannot compare in terms of technical ability, control, experience and attacking flair. Instead they are well organised, tough to beat, competitive and certainly one of the best around for scoring goals on set pieces. They are also learning fast for a such a young squad and now they can win games on penalties, which could prove useful against Croatia.

However, the easy part is over for England – their only real test so far has been Colombia – and the question now is whether or not, with the heat well and truly on, they can beat Croatia and go all the way. My answer? Probably yes. 

England impressed me even before this World Cup with their success at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-20 level. Something special was happening in the country.

England have strong, young players who play refreshing football and, in that sense, the squad reminds me a little of Germany's at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. They too reached the semi-finals before losing against Spain, the eventual winners. England face Croatia, a team also full of experience, so it will not be easy, but England have four things to their advantages: they showed against Colombia that they can win a penalty shootout; they showed against Sweden that they can win in a routine, professional manner; they have the best striker in the world in Harry Kane and they have a really impressive goalkeeper. So they could go all the way.

But England have also shown during this tournament that they can be really nervous in their play, holding onto the ball for too long and not passing confidently. They have also engaged in acts of simulation that would make even Neymar embarrassed.

When it comes to England and sports you close your eyes, remember the smell of humid grass and remember it is the nation where football was born. It is also a nation that has gone 52 years without winning the World Cup and is desperate do so again. Can they do so in 2018? Well nothing lasts forever, not even droughts. Years of watching great players perform in the Premier League have clearly had an affect on the national team with the most clear one being that England no longer play like they used to. The current team is more interesting and dynamic.

The players also appear to be mentally stronger and it could be that more than anything else that carries them past a strong Croatia team and into the final.

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