The 32-year-old goalkeeper - who is playing in his third World Cup - is looking forward to facing the legendary player for the first time in the semi-final on Wednesday (15.07.26) night but insisted the team won't be underestimating the rest of the opposing squad.

He said: “It’s great to finally come up against him – I watched him a lot as a kid. We all know how good Messi is but we also know how good Argentina are so we can’t focus solely on him.”

The match will be the first time England have faced their old rivals Argentina since 2002 and Jordan thinks his teammates staying calm under pressure will be vital for them to claim victory.

He said: “You’ve seen throughout the tournament, you’ve seen our desire to win titles, we’ve not gotten into any scuffles or anything.

“We’ve been very respectful within the game – if decisions go our way or if they don’t go our way, we just reset, we go again, and we let the football do the talking. It just shows our mentality, we don’t get wrapped up in things like that, we stay focused.”

And the Everton sticksman warned it is important not to get caught up in the occasion.

He said: “It’s just a game of football with two sets of passionate fans who are going to be at the game. That’s what football does – it brings the fans and the nations together.

"We are two proud nations but the football will do the talking. Us and Argentina and Spain and France are the top four nations in the world in the rankings and we’ve all got the stage to get to the final.

"This is us against them and another great nation to play against. What a game it’s going to be and it’s about us beating them.”