World Cup 2026: Jordan Pickford – It’s time to finally give the England goalkeeper the credit he deserves.

Pickford made an uncertain start to the World Cup when he was fouled at the penalty spot as DRC captain Harry Kane missed two late goals to lead England in Atlanta.

But in the Azteca pressure cooker, Pickford had his best game in England, scoring two excellent tries on Mexican striker Raul Jimenez in the first half.

“It was a very brave display from the goalkeeper,” said Robinson. “I really appreciate what he did in that second half and his two saves in the first half kept England in the game. If it hadn’t been for him, they could have been out by half-time.”

Pickford dominated the penalty shootout, regularly coming in for crosses and corners for England, and were 10 men down early in the second half after Jarel Kwansah was sent off.

He decided to stop. He came in for crosses, made decisions to kick balls, made defenders’ lives easier by being good.

“The easiest thing as a goalkeeper is to stay on your line because there is no criticism. If you stay on your line you can’t make a mistake but he showed maturity and bravery.

“He’s shown the way he’s developed his game by stepping out of his lane, making those decisions, making big, gutsy calls. That’s where you see how much he’s improved.”

“Jordan took it upon himself to punch the ball, hold the ball and make life easy for the defenders.

“The players in front of him don’t cause him any problems. That doesn’t worry him. He’s played with a back four for most of the game, with full-back rotations and changes at centre-back.

“The players know him and trust him. I think there’s a good relationship there.”

And Pickford’s Mexican masterclass could boost England’s confidence as they try to overcome the dangerous Norwegians and their main striker Erling Haaland showed their threat with a 2-0 win over Brazil in the last 16.

“I think Jordan Pickford’s confidence will be higher than ever and the team will be good after the win in Mexico,” added Robinson.

“I asked them in the air when Thomas Tuchel went into the back five after 71 minutes. I was thinking I wasn’t sure they were going to hang, and that would have been the stick he was hit with.

It went right and Jordan Pickford was a big part of it going right.