Following a convincing start in the quest to qualify for the 2020 European Championships, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Dele Alli is confident England can rise to become the top country on the FIFA World Ranking sooner rather than later.

The Three Lions are currently fifth behind Croatia, Brazil, world champions France and the top-ranked Belgium but the Spurs star believes he and his England teammates can make this a reality.

This belief is fuelled especially by a surprise run to the last four of the 2018 FIFA World Cup was followed by winning a UEFA Nations League group which also comprised World Cup finalists, Croatia – who beat them in the World Cup semis – as well as a Spain side that was more fancied to reach the latter stages of the World Cup and Nations League but fell short on both occasions.

England will face the resurgent Netherlands in the Nations League semi-finals and would play either Portugal – who have Cristiano Ronaldo back in the fold for the first time since last year’s World Cup – or Switzerland in the final, should they overcome the Oranje.

“We want to be the No.1 team in the world and to do that you have to be at it in every game and when you come away you have to prove yourself every time. We definitely believe we can be the best in the world,” Alli told the Mirror.

He added: “Obviously, everyone will have their opinions but the work we’ve been putting in is to achieve that. We know there’s a long way to go, a lot of work to be done but we feel we are definitely heading in the right direction.”

Alli went on to emphasise his point: “The Nations League tournament has had some unbelievable teams in it. Look at our group (Spain and Croatia) and see how tough it was. It’s exciting for us to try to win another trophy. We’re looking forward to it, prepare properly, focus on the Euro 2020 games first and then obviously when the time comes, prepare as well as we can for the Nations League.”

The Spurs star also felt the team had proven themselves under the guidance of coach, Gareth Southgate, and need only to keep challenging themselves: “But we’ve proved so far since Gareth [Southgate] came in that we can beat the top sides and everyone can see the direction we’re heading in which is exciting.”

He added: “We had a great World Cup but it was important to show with the results after that it was not just a one-off. We are a good team, I think we’ve shown that and we have beaten some good teams. We need to keep challenging ourselves. We can’t stop now and I think the gaffer definitely won’t let that happen.”

The Three Lions next embark on a trip to take on Montenegro on Monday looking to follow up their 5-0 demolition of Czech Republic at Wembley on Friday with another win. The victory over the Czechs came courtesy of a Raheem Sterling hat-trick, a Harry Kane penalty and an own goal forced by substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi.

What are your thoughts on Alli’s comments?