Jordan Pickford set to become England's most capped World Cup player

England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is set to enter the history books when he faces Norway in the World Cup quarter-final in Miami. The 32-year-old Everton keeper will make his 18th World Cup appearance, becoming England's most capped player in the tournament and eclipsing the previous record held by Peter Shilton.

Pickford's milestone comes on the back of a magnificent individual display in England's 3-2 victory over Mexico in the last 16 at the Azteca Stadium. It is another sign of how the Wearsider has maintained unrivalled status as first choice, now approaching his 90th international appearance in his fifth major tournament.

Consistency at club and international level

Pickford has been a model of consistency for both Everton and England. In the last two Premier League seasons, his clean sheet record of 23 is second only to David Raya of Arsenal, who has 32. In his 89 England games, he has conceded 59 goals and kept 44 clean sheets, with only two errors leading to goals, according to Opta statistics.

Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson believes Pickford's contribution has been undervalued. He told BBC Sport: "I think he has been under-appreciated for Everton and England when you look at the numbers he's posting, the games he is playing and the number of clean sheets he has. He is only second behind David Raya in the last two seasons for clean sheets and they are playing for very different teams."

Robinson added: "With England, you look at his experience, the way he has gone deep into tournaments. I always talk about competitive caps, but he has lots of tournament caps, which is so important."

Evolution as a goalkeeper

Robinson also highlighted Pickford's personal and professional growth. "I think he's matured as a person and a professional. I think he's worked on himself. He's an excellent shot-stopper, his distribution is second to none. He's worked on his distribution. You can see his long distribution is superb, which England used as a weapon in Mexico - it led to one of the goals. I also think he's worked on his short distribution as well and I think he's evolved as a goalkeeper and a person. I really like what I see."

Pickford made his England debut against Germany at Wembley in November 2017. He has also made 14 appearances at the European Championships, where England lost in the past two finals.

Unchallenged as England's number one

Pickford has been England's first-choice tournament goalkeeper since the 2018 World Cup, where they lost in the semi-final to Croatia in Moscow. All challengers have been seen off to such an extent that Robinson says: "I think he's the first name on the team sheet. There is nobody else. As a nation, we have again gone into a major tournament with a keeper who has racked up the caps, while others beneath him have only got a handful. I checked the stats before this tournament, and out of the five goalkeepers who could have been picked alongside Jordan Pickford, they had 11 competitive games between them."

When Thomas Tuchel was appointed England coach, there was speculation that he was unconvinced by Pickford, but as with predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate, he has been his undisputed number one. Robinson added: "There will always be an opinion, whether it was Peter Shilton, David Seaman, David James or myself when I was England's keeper. Somebody has always got an opinion. You are there to be shot at."