The former Three Lions midfielder thinks that Thomas Tuchel's side must utilise their pace in transition if they are to end their 60-year wait for success at a major tournament in North America this summer.

Speaking to FourFourTwo magazine, Hargreaves said: "I don't think we're going to win the tournament by being the best team, because there'll be better footballing teams there. If we're going to win, we're probably going to do it on the counter.

"There's no shame doing that. You need to play to your strengths. France have been the masters of it, and so have Real Madrid in the Champions League. With the players we have in transition, I think we could destroy people."

Hargreaves represented England at both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and believes that Tuchel will be able to get the best out of a talented squad – after the late Sven-Goran Eriksson failed to get the so-called 'Golden Generation' to perform at big tournaments.

The former Bayern Munich player said: "If you think back to our group, they all achieve enormous success at their clubs, like the Champions League.

"Not many of this group have had that success yet, but they're super talented, and what they have done a better job at during this era is to put everything together better.

"We had so many world-class players that we almost had the names select themselves, and we didn't really get the balance right, because we tried to pick everyone. I think Thomas Tuchel knows that."

Hargreaves feels that England have players who will make the opposition sit up and take notice.

The TNT Sports pundit said: "I love Declan Rice, he just gets better every time you watch him, and Morgan Rogers is so underrated – he's got room to grow.

"Cole Palmer has got genius inside him sometimes, too, and I know Jude Bellingham gets a lot of criticism, but he's a big game player. He's shown that, and it's what you need in a tournament – people who have the courage to step up in those massive moments and go, 'Right, give me the ball.'"