I've changed my mind, we might actually be able to win this thing - Shearer

Published 7 minutes ago We might actually be able to win this thing. From the fans to the players, that's what everyone must be thinking after England's epic win over Mexico - I know I am - when I genuinely didn't feel that was the case before the game. There was hope, of course. There's always hope with England at a major tournament, but that performance has pushed us all further forward and given everyone, including me, confidence and belief too. Before I went to the Azteca Stadium, and watched us deal with everything that was thrown at us, I didn't truly believe England could win this World Cup - but I've changed my mind, and I think everyone else has too. I still don't know if we will win it but everything about the way we played against Mexico showed why we can. In my experience as a fan, player or pundit, whenever England have done well at a tournament, there's always a performance like that from us somewhere that lifts everyone, the whole nation, and makes you think, 'wow, we can do this'. I had it myself as a player at Euro '96 when we beat the Netherlands 4-1 at Wembley and felt unstoppable. I was thinking, 'we can go all the way' and that's exactly how the England squad will be feeling now too, on the back of such an incredible result when everything was against them. We fell agonisingly short in 1996 when we lost on penalties in the semi-finals but, 30 years on, there are plenty of reasons why this England side are capable of going at least one step further. England are together - and adaptable To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This video can not be played Figure caption, England win thriller against Mexico to reach quarter-finals I've talked before at this tournament about how England have often relied on their big-hitters to get us out of trouble. There is nothing wrong with that, and Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham delivered yet again with their goals against Mexico. But to go deep at this World Cup we were always going to need the other players to step up too, and they certainly did that in the last round. Every single player who stepped on that pitch at the Azteca played their part, and Thomas Tuchel did too with his substitutions and how well they worked. I am 55 and I'd describe that display as the best team performance I've seen from any England side in my lifetime, particularly away from home. It was an absolute pleasure to be there to watch it, because it was pretty much complete, with what they had to go through from the altitude and the incredible atmosphere, then going down to 10 men. I don't think I've ever witnessed togetherness or team spirit like that - to get a result in such a tough scenario. That's how good it was. It was brilliant to see more of the same with the clips of the players celebrating in the dressing room afterwards, when John Stones pretended to be injured before he started dancing with the rest of the team. I loved the reaction of Tuchel too, when he realises it's a prank