Southgate must grab bull by the horns to take his moment and rival Alf Ramsey

England will never get a better chance to win the World Cup - and for Gareth Southgate, this is his moment to rival Sir Alf Ramsey as their greatest-ever manager.

In almost every respect, by every quantifiable measurement, England have an even better opportunity than last time in Russia four years ago, when they missed the boat in the semi-finals against Croatia.

There is no outstanding team for them to fear, they are the joint-highest scorers at the tournament, Southgate has competition for places all over the park and his subs made a terrific impact against Iran and Wales.

Looking at the way England have gone about their business in Qatar, maybe it was a massive missed opportunity when they lost the Euro 2020 final against Italy, a nation who didn't even qualify for the World Cup.

And perhaps Southgate won't get a job at a top-six Premier League club because he puts pragmatism ahead of all-out attack. But if there was any doubt before, there is none now: International football suits him down to the ground.

Never mind the talented squads who came up short at two World Cups under Sven-Goran Eriksson. This is England's golden generation, and they came through their group convincingly.

Yes, the 0-0 draw against the USA was dull, but if you look at the other favoured nations, none of them has avoided bumps in the road.

Who will win the World Cup? Have your say in the comments below.

Germany are out, Belgium are out, Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia, Spain lost to Japan, Brazil may be without Neymar for the rest of the tournament, and France don't look unstoppable if you take Kylian Mbappe out of the equation. Based on what we've seen so far, I wouldn't be at all surprised if England reached the final or won the World Cup.

Senegal, their opponents in the last 16, are resilient, talented and reflect their manager's virtues. But they are without their star player Sadio Mane, Idrissa Gueye is suspended and their two best forwards, Ismaila Sarr and Iliman Ndiaye, play in the Championship.

I have been impressed with England's relative security at the back, where Harry Maguire has been outstanding - whatever you say about his form at Manchester United, he hasn't let his country down - and Jude Bellingham has been their best player, with Marcus Rashford a close second.

Southgate must now decide whether to go safety-first, and keep Jordan Henderson in the side, or to be a bit braver. In a game where I expect Senegal to sit tight, I would go with the same back four as against Wales - Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw - with Bellingham and Declan Rice anchoring the midfield.

After his stunning, two-goal impact on Tuesday night, you can't leave Rashford out, so I would play him and Bukayo Saka either side of Phil Foden at No.10, with Harry Kane up top.

To break the lines, Foden would be my locksmith to pick the gaps and, with a flat back four, I feel there is more than enough defensive cover with Rice as their minder.

This is the hour when Southgate must take the bull by the horns - instead of waiting for things to happen or fall in his favour, he must pick a team to go out and beat Senegal. England are only three games from the World Cup final, and greatness is within Southgate's grasp if he is bold enough to seize it.

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