Alan Shearer Exclusive: England's route to the 2026 World Cup final is tough

• Alan Shearer on the draw for World Cup 2026

• He says the draw is decent for England

• Route to final much tougher from quarter-final onwards

• Read our World Cup 2026 Draw review with latest betting odds

The draw is decent for England... until the quarter-finals!

It's a decent draw for England, it could have been tougher, it could have been easier.

The route to the final, if things go as planned - which rarely happens - is a tough one. It's a big if, things have to go to plan for England and other teams for the route to the final that people are talking about, but if that is the case then it is a tough draw from the quarter-finals onwards, where we could potentially face Brazil.

But overall, I think the draw is decent, I wouldn't go overboard and say it's a brilliant draw.

It's a tough opener against Croatia, having played them so many times, but ultimately, we have to be confident that we can get through, it would be pretty bad if we didn't get through to the knockouts, but having seen the draw, I'm absolutely confident that England will get through.

Scotland have a great opportunity to hit the ground running

Scotland will play Haiti in their first game, what a great chance for them to get off to a great start. It's amazing that they have Brazil in their group. That's what it's all about, that's why they fought so hard to qualify, for games like that.

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