Pickford urges Three Lions to focus on themselves to roar past Messi's Argentina

As England’s last line of defence, the responsibility will fall on his shoulders to stop Argentina’s star man if he manages to shake off the shackles of Thomas Tuchel's back four.

And with two clean sheets already under his belt at the World Cup, Pickford cannot wait to take on a player he has admired from afar.

“He's scored so many goals and contributed to so many over his career,” he said. "It's great to be able to finally come up against him after so long.”

Messi, 39, has netted eight times and provided two assists in six appearances during Argentina’s bid to retain the trophy they lifted at Qatar 2022.

But as Pickford rightly highlights, the Inter Miami superstar is not the only problem England have to deal with in Atlanta.

The Everton stopper added: “We can't just talk about Messi. They're a good side and they're reigning champions.

"They're a good side but we've got so much ability in our squad going forward and we're hard to break down.

"You can't look past the ability and the talent we've got in the squad — going forward, defensively, togetherness. We've got it all there and that's what we need to put on show on Wednesday.

"We've got that resilience. We've got that togetherness and we've got that mentality. That's what makes a good team."

Like England, Argentina have endured hairy moments on the road to the semi-finals.

And Pickford, 32, believes the best approach is for the Three Lions to concentrate on themselves instead of worrying too much about Lionel Scaloni’s men.

He said: “I think it's just solely focus on us as England now and us being at our best to beat another top nation.

“It's us against them and it's about who comes out on top. We're fully prepared for that."

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