WE are the world’s greatest braggers at having the world’s greatest things: so each year we watch the world’s greatest knockout cup competition (the FA Cup), the world’s greatest horse race (the Grand National), the world’s greatest tennis championships (Wimbledon) and so on.

Anything half decent in the world in fact and we’ll claim it as our own and then brand it, fairly or not, as the best version of whatever that thing is. We invented everything, we have been the best at everything.

So I suppose it isn’t a surprise to see people reaching for the faceprint and chainmail knight costumes and deciding that the England team wading through the World Cup in Qatar is actually the best in the planet and universe… because they beat Iran and Wales. If they had been defeated in either of those games, it would be like Liverpool being knocked out of the cup by Rotherham United. Sorry, Welsh readers, but it’s true and I think you know it.

Nevertheless each success is treated as if we have settled football for all time. And it never seems to matter to any English fan that at every tournament that Gareth Southgate has benefited with draws that have opened up with almost inconceivable generosity. Oh well done for beating Panama, Colombia (on penalties), Denmark and so on, but the truth is whenever he has come up against a top-ranked team, England have lost.

Yes, they beat Germany in the Euros last summer, but our old rivals are shadows of their former selves.

And yet, you know what? England could win the World Cup. There’s still time for a knighthood for our Gareth in the New Years Honours, and a statue on Wembley Way. A good sculptor could be chiselling out a copper waistcoat and delicate face whiskers as we speak.

But although we all love football being on free-to-air channels at all times, if we were honest with ourselves, the standard of the World Cup has been nothing close to elite.

It is a weak tournament in which no team looks far and above better than anybody else – like the great Spanish team did in 2010, or I assume Brazil did in 1970.

That might explain why we have seen some exciting matches but only a handful of quality goals that will live long in the memory… like Dennis Bergkamp’s unbeaten skill against Argentina in 1994.

The best players have been scattered across the teams but this time none have landed in the same shirts to form a breathtaking first XI that you’d rush home to watch.

The top six clubs in the Premier League would all walk this competition. In these dismal conditions, Southgate could win it. Maybe he should win it.