Doubting Jordan Pickford is a fool's errand: England goalkeeper keeps putting critics in their place as he prepares to break World Cup record

The start of this tournament wasn't kind to Pickford. His performance against Croatia wasn't bad, but was below-par for the standards he sets himself. He got a decent piece of Martin Baturina's shot, but could not keep it out as Croatia made the score 1-1 in the first half, while some of his passing was a little rocky there, with Tuchel caught on camera in Dallas berating Pickford for his distribution.

The Everton shot-stopper followed that another shaky moment against Ghana, as Pickford was a little lucky to avoid a red card after coming out of his box, missing the ball, and colliding with the onrushing Prince Adu. It was only due to a hefty contact from the Ghanaian forward that Pickford was not given his marching orders during an otherwise drab 0-0.

The meeting with DR Congo in the last-32, meanwhile, saw Pickford be beaten at his near post by Brian Cipenga as the African side broke the deadlock in Atlanta. Had Harry Kane not turned the match around in the final 15 minutes, much of the blame for defeat would have gone in Pickford's direction.

And in that context, what happened at the Azteca mattered even more. England were always going to have periods of soaking up pressure in Mexico City, and Pickford was going to need a big game.

Mexico had the first real chance of the game when Raul Jimenez - who must have hated the sight of Pickford by the end of the thing - won a header at the near post, only for Pickford to show impressive reactions and get down low to his left to tip the effort around the post. He produced another excellent stop from the Mexico No.9 shortly before half-time, this time parrying Jimenez's header over the bar. It would have been a devastating equaliser for England to concede, but they instead went into the break with a precious 2-1 lead.

And then came the last 30 minutes or so. Pickford seemed to relish every second. He shouted at his centre-backs, organised the defence, and came for cross after cross. By the end of it all, he had tallied five punches, produced three vital saves, and made a number of crucial clearances.

"He’s not pleasing on the eye, but my god he’s effective, and you can trust him, and in the big moments he wants to stand there and be that guy," former England goalkeeper Joe Hart said on the BBC. "That’s massive to have in a team.

"To be the England number one for so long, and to keep improving and stepping up in a big game, I’m so pleased he had that night tonight and he deserves every bit of praise he’s going to get."

Hart picks up on an important point there in that Pickford has never quite gotten the love he deserves. Tuchel even pointed out before the tournament that there was competition at every spot, including goalkeeper - not least because of Dean Henderson's continued impressive performances in a Crystal Palace shirt.

Yet Pickford's record as England 'keeper is pretty immaculate. After debuting in November 2017, he quickly established himself under Sir Gareth Southgate. He has started every match for five straight major tournaments, and assuming that streak does not surprisingly end against Norway on Saturday, Pickford will become England's most capped World Cup player - eclipsing Peter Shilton's record of 17 appearances on the global stage.

"I think he's probably the best since I finished with England," Shilton said. "If you look at the record, World Cup semi-finals, penalty saves... I think he's probably up there. I would put him up there as the best. Obviously, David Seaman, he's very close. But I think, generally, looking at his overall situation, I think he's probably the best since I played."

Pickford has had plenty of memorable moments down the years, too. In 2018, he was a key part of an England side that exorcised plenty of demons in the World Cup, saving a crucial penalty as England won a last-16 shootout against Colombia before producing a Player-of-the-Match-winning performance against Sweden in the quarter-finals.

He produced the goods again in the Euro 2020 final, saving two penalties during the heart-breaking defeat to Italy at Wembley. He provided similar heroics again in 2024, saving from Manuel Akanji as England beat Switzerland in a quarter-final victory. In total, Pickford has saved four of the 14 penalties he has faced in World Cup and Euros shootouts.

"When it comes to a penalty shootout, I don’t think I would have anyone else," former England goalkeeper Ben Foster said in 2024. "I reckon at that moment in time when you get a penalty shootout, he’s genuinely thinking, ‘It’s showtime, baby’. If you could take a blood reading or a sample of how much adrenaline is coursing through his body at that moment, I reckon it would be right at the top, right at the limit. It’s like he’s had six double espressos.”

In open play, meanwhile, Pickford has been almost mistake-free since becoming his country's No.1. Statistical models suggest that he has made just one error that led to a goal since 2018. You'd struggle to find many goalkeepers who are so reliable.

The same applies at a club level. Pickford is the Premier League's longest-tenured starting goalkeeper having been Everton's No.1 for almost 10 years. He was named the Toffees' Player of the Season in 2022, 2023 and 2024, and since 2022-23, he has prevented more goals than anyone else in the league, according to Opta.

"He is a top 'keeper, he has made top saves all season, he is fully capable of it," Hart continued after the Mexico performance.

And yes, for Everton, Pickford has made some errors. He will forever be associated with one or two high-profile mistakes, not least a horrific challenge on Virgil Van Dijk that tore the Liverpool centre-back's ACL. Yet every single Everton manager since 2017 has stuck with him.

Pickford is a leader for the Toffees, and has produced a slew of big saves for a side that has, on numerous occassions, needed him to be at his best to stave off the threat of relegation.

Pickford knows he will need to be at his best in Miami on Saturday, especially with a familiar foe within the Norway ranks. Erling Haaland has feasted off Everton during his time in the Premier League, putting seven goals past Pickford since arriving at Manchester City; only four goalkeepers have had to pick the ball out of the back of the net from the Norwegian more often.

It doesn't help, either, that Haaland has netted in each of his last 14 competitive outings for Norway, tallying a remarkable 27 goals during that period. He almost single-handedly beat Brazil in the last 16 despite seldom touching the ball, scoring two wonderful goals to send the Selecao home early. In short, he is the deadliest striker on earth right now - and it's not remotely close.

Yet if there is anything that past few tournaments should have taught England, it's that Pickford has a penchant for stepping up in the biggest of moments. The Three Lions go into Saturday's game as narrow favourites, but also know that Norway have taken the harder road to get here. They are also certainly fresher, having made things look relatively routine against Brazil compared to England's travails in Mexico.

Once again, it seems likely to be a game in which Pickford will be called upon at crucial moments. The good news? He tends to answer that call.