Alan Shearer has told Thomas Tuchel what England team he should pick for the World Cup quarter-final vs Norway - and pleaded with him not to drop one player20:59, 09 Jul 2026Alan Shearer believes it would be a harsh call to axe Djed Spence for England's mammoth World Cup quarter-final in Miami. Spence has endured his fair share of criticism during the tournament, and the Tottenham Hotspur star was screamed at during the clash with Ghana in Boston during a group encounter.‌But with England's defence suffering in recent days, with Reece James injured and Jarell Quansah now banned for two matches, Shearer feels that Spence is the right man for the job against Norway.‌Shearer, speaking via BetFair, said: "I don't know the situation with Reece James’ hamstring, but I think it would be extremely harsh on Djed Spence if he didn't start. I mean, he started left back, he started right back, he then went to left back when he brought him on the other evening and I thought he was outstanding when he came on the other day, as was Dan Burn, as was John Stones.‌"But yeah, I mean, it's amazing, isn't it, we find ourselves before every single game discussing who's going to be in the right back position. But my guess would be it would be Djed Spence at right back."Get the latest World Cup 2026 news in your inbox with our Make Football Great Again newsletterShearer was blown away by England's battling performance against Mexico in the early hours of Monday morning and feels that the Three Lions must utilise their wide men efficiently with special praise going to Anthony Gordon and Bukayo Saka.‌He said: "I've been barking on all tournament about wide men going on the outside, but I thought that both of them were brilliant in doing that the other night."I mean, Gordon, when he first got the ball, his first touch of the night was to go on the outside, and then he had the defender on toast every time. Saka went on the outside when he dinked that beautiful ball across to Bellingham for the header."So, I thought our wingers were outstanding as well, particularly Anthony Gordon. I thought he had his best game for England. So, I would go again with Saka, Kane, Gordon and Bellingham in behind. I thought that worked really, really well. And I would just say to all of them, more of the same, please do exactly what you did against Mexico.‌"I think the manager will go with Rice and Anderson in the middle again and I would do the same. He also feels safer, I think, with Guehi and Konsa at centre-half. It's clear that in the games that they’ve played that he feels safe with Konsa and Guehi and then O'Reilly at left-back, and Spence at right-back, with Pickford in goal."And Shearer has backed England to reach their first semi-final since 2018 by seeing off Norway in Florida.‌The Newcastle and England legend added: "I think the performance the other night was what everyone's been waiting for. And I think that's given everyone belief that we can go forward and that we've got a team."And with Tuchel’s know-how and his knowledge it feels that we can actually do something special. I'm not thinking that England are going out. I've got real big confidence that England can get through to the semi-final and beat Norway."I mean, if you said before the tournament we're going to have a World Cup quarterfinal against Norway you would say absolutely thank you very much give us it let's get on with it lets hit it head on and I don't see any reason for us not to get to a semi-final.‌"I think it's not going to be easy it'll be tough and there'll be times where we'll have to suffer because they're a good team. But I go back to my point, if someone said before the tournament, you're going to be playing Norway in the quarterfinal of the World Cup, you'd have snapped their hands off for that."I'm going for a 2-1 win against Norway and I'm going for Anthony Gordon and I'm going for Harry Kane to get our goals."Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.Article continues belowContent cannot be displayed without consent