Pep Guardiola has backed England to follow Manchester City's route to success and win Euro 2024 this summer.
City finally won the Champions League last season to complete an historic Treble, after falling short in Europe in previous seasons. Gareth Southgate and his England players have also been knocking on the door, reaching the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and Euro 2020 final.
City boss Guardiola reckons the Three Lions are now ready to take the next step and lift a major trophy this summer – for the first time since the World Cup of 1966.
“The national team? Really good,” said Guardiola. “But it’s not just the talent of the strikers, it’s the whole package, the whole group. Gareth knows perfectly what he has to do.
"I have the feeling, everyone has the feeling, that the England national team, in the last events, the World Cup and European Championships, they made steps.
“They are on the verge, they are really close. They lost a final and got to a semi-final. “When you arrive at these stages every two years, it’s going to happen. It’s quite similar to us - we were close and, in the end, we lifted it.
“Just believe it. If they believe it they can do it, believe it and they can do it.”
A core of City players – Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish – will be central to England's chances of success this summer. And Guardiola knows the whole country will get behind Southgate and his players in a bid to help end the nation's 58 year wait to lift a major trophy.
“I see the reaction when they play European Cups or World Cups,” said Guardiola. “People go crazy on the streets, the people completely love it. They go crazy for the national team, that proves how proud they are.
“As a football player that is the best - your country is proud of what you are doing for your country and the way you're playing, reaching the last stages."