Alan Shearer's England World Cup Fears Are Confusing

Alan Shearer helped himself to 30 goals in England colours, which places him inside the top 10 of scorers for the national side.

Coupled with his achievements at club level—he is the leading marksman in Premier League history with 260 goals—the Newcastle legend is well informed to offer an opinion on the national side.

And in his column in The Sun (subscription) on Monday, ahead of the Three Lions’ clash with Scotland on Wednesday, Shearer has expressed fears that any England fans who have booked their passage to Rio for next year’s World Cup may be left with no team to watch.

"

I’ve got to admit I’m worried it (a fine summer of sport) could end on a low this autumn with England failing to qualify for the World Cup.

Am I confident we will be in Brazil next summer? No. Am I hopeful, of course I am.

Everyone keeps saying we’ll be okay because three of those matches are at home. But I’ve seen nothing in our displays at Wembley during this campaign to make me so sure we’ll be heading for Rio in 10 months’ time.

"

Unless Shearer has taken up part-time work at The Sun’s Wapping HQ, he is not responsible for the headline which read “I fear our footballers will ruin a fantastic summer.”

But Shearer did provide the ammunition by writing:

"

Although I was injured at the time, I was part of the England squad who missed out on USA 94 and—believe me—we don’t want to experience that feeling again.

It promises to be such a wonderful tournament in Brazil, so for us to be on the outside looking in would be heartbreaking.

"

Now Shearer is entitled to his opinion, he is highly likely to be well remunerated by The Sun for offering his opinion. Blunt talking is absolutely fine and if Shearer is concerned, then he is right to express it.

Shearer uses the word “heartbreaking” and the sentence “we don’t want to experience that feeling again.” But he also says “I can certainly see a situation where we have to win a playoff to secure our place at the finals—and for a nation like ours that’s not really good enough.”

The final statement is the confusing one. Whether you are Spain, Germany, England, San Marino or Bhutan, you stand and fall by your results.

And qualifying is over a 13-month period and in England’s case, played over 10 games. After six of those 10 games, England are the only unbeaten side in Group H, they trail Montenegro by two points, have a game in hand, and three of their final four games are on home soil.

The bookmakers feel England are well placed to qualify, bet365 have them chalked up at 1/8 to book their place in Brazil.

Those odds do look a shade on the skinny side, but if they win their home games against Moldova, Montenegro and Poland—as listed on FIFA’s website—it is highly likely that England will secure at least a spot in a playoff.

But if England do not book their passage to Rio with three of their four remaining games at Wembley, then they do not deserve to be at the World Cup—which would make a mockery of Shearer’s assertion that “for a nation like ours that’s not really good enough.”

If Shearer feels England as a nation should be at the World Cup finals next year, then he should be confident that Roy Hodgson’s side can get the job done against the Moldovas, the Polands and the Montenegros of this world.

Conversely, if the side cannot muster the points required from their final four games, then they have no right to be in Brazil.

And that would leave the public free to focus on Andy Murray at Wimbledon, Justin Rose at the Open and Chris Froome at the Tour de France.