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Harry Kane will deliver the final dressing room speech in the Al-Bayt Stadium changing rooms before facing France and will tell his team-mates they are ready for World Cup glory.
The England captain gives the last team talk before players head out to the tunnel, as Gareth Southgate believes managers can be counterproductive by attempting a late address to their squad.
It will be Kane reinforcing the final messages in a team huddle before the quarter-final against the world champions, rather than Southgate who will do his talking at the squad’s Souq Al Wakra Hotel base.
“The preparation has been done, everyone will be talking in the changing room, everyone will be talking about the same messages that we have been talking about for the last six days,” said Kane.
“It will just be a small briefing in a huddle, I will think about it 24 hours before, but it is just to go over what we have been preparing for. At that stage the players will be ready, just itching to get out there and play. You rarely get six days to wait for a quarter-final so we are more than ready to get out there and get going.”
Southgate, on the eve of the last-eight clash against Didier Deschamps’ team, was asked on the eve of game what his final speech will be. “Nothing at all. Harry does it,” he said.
“By that point the messages are done and the work is done. It is up to the players. We speak a lot during the week and at the hotel to go to the ground and then I leave to to the players .
“Frankly there are a lot of times when I was a player that the manager spoke at that point and I thought ‘I’m ready, all you can do is mess it up for me now’. So I have taken that on board and I think it is an important moment the players feel together, we are in the dressing room with them and have little messages but I don’t speak to them in that way immediately before a game.”
England's World Cup schedule
Round of 16
Quarter-finals
England's quarter-final is at 7pm on Saturday, December 10. They play France, who beat Poland in the second round.
Semi-finals
If England reach the semi-finals, they could meet either Morocco or Portugal. The semi-finals will take place on Tuesday December 13 and Wednesday December 14. England would be playing on the latter date.
Final
The World Cup final will take place on Sunday December 18 at 3pm (GMT) at the Lusail Iconic Stadium. If England are in the final, they could be pitted against Argentina or Brazil.
Group B results
England 6 Iran 2: November 21
USA 1 Wales 1: November 21
Wales 0 Iran 2: November 25
England 0 USA 0: November 25
Iran 0 USA 1: November 29
Wales 0 England 3: November 29
Who is in the England squad?
Southgate named a 26-man squad for the tournament, including call-ups for James Maddison and Conor Gallagher.
Among the goalkeepers, Pickford talks about the “GK Union” at England’s base in Al Wakrah, where Nick Pope and Aaron Ramsdale have to support the No 1 while also wanting eventually to take his place. The reserves cannot sulk and must be at the right level for meaningful training.
“Me, Popey and Rammers work really well together, we never have a day off,” Pickford said. “Every time we train we train properly, every single day. Then at the end of the day we have finishing drills against the top boys.
“Harry Kane and Rashy [Marcus Rashford] every day in training is going to get the best out of you because they are ruthless and you are doing well to save shots and when you do, it gives you confidence. The level is really high.
“We have three keepers performing really well for their clubs and we come away as one when we come to England. We all want to be No 1 but there is only one shirt to wear. Whoever plays, everyone is always supportive. That works really well and the togetherness we have as a union is really good.”
Could an England player win the Golden Boot?
Very possibly. Marcus Rashford or Bukayo Saka look the most likely candidates, with both on three goals. Kylian Mbappe leads the way with five goals, two ahead of anyone else.
Latest news
By Matt Law
England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed that he has beefed up security at his Harrogate home during the World Cup.
Raheem Sterling returned to Southgate’s squad and trained with his team-mates on Friday, having flown back to England last Sunday following a robbery at his house in Surrey.
Telegraph Sport revealed that worried England players had reacted to the robbery at Sterling’s house by putting their own home security guards on 24-hour red alert.
And describing how he fully backed Sterling’s decision to leave the England World Cup camp for five days, Southgate said: “I could relate to it because I’ve had to put extra security at home, because pictures of my house have been published through this tournament.
“My wife was concerned about that. None of that is helpful. These are the sorts of spin-offs you have when you are involved with England. So I could totally understand where Raheem was in terms of feeling the need to look after his family at that time.”
Sterling’s return to England eliminated any chance of him earning a recall to Southgate’s starting team in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final against France, but the 28-year-old received the full support of his manager and team-mates.
“You know as a manager that if a player is not in the right space to play in the game and needs that time,” said Southgate. “I had it with (Fabian) Delph in Russia, in different circumstances, because his wife was giving birth.
“You know that you want them really around for the game, but if they have got other things going on in their life that are difficult to be dealing with in that moment, I think any modern workplace has got to understand those things.
“The reason given [by Sterling] was because there was property taken from his house. His partner was certainly concerned with what had gone on. He felt the need to be with his family. I can understand that. If your home has been intruded, that’s a feeling that is very difficult to have.”
Southgate responded to a report claiming that Ben White had left the England squad following an alleged bust-up with his assistant Steve Holland by saying: “I think by commenting on the story I could be giving it any form of credibility, really. We explained why Ben left the camp and I think it's important that that is respected, really.”
The Football Association had said that White left the England squad for “personal reasons.”
