Beth Mead insists that England have ‘no fear’ ahead of their World Cup showdown against the USA.

LE HAVRE, FRANCE - JUNE 27: Beth Mead of England runs with the ball during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup France Quarter Final match between Norway and England at Stade Oceane on June 27, 2019 in Le Havre, France. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
LE HAVRE, FRANCE – JUNE 27: Beth Mead of England runs with the ball during the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup France Quarter Final match between Norway and England at Stade Oceane on June 27, 2019 in Le Havre, France. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

England booked their place in the World Cup semi-final with an impressive win over Norway while their opponents knocked out the host nation on Friday night.

The US are the number one ranked nation in the world and the defending champions so England know they face no small task to make the final of the World Cup on 7 July.

“They are the type of team that have been there and done it, they have won a final, they have won an Olympics, they have won a World Cup,” Mead told PA Sport.

“They have the most experience in these situations and they are a top-class team, full of athletes. It is going to be a tough game.

“But we’ve been there and played them in SheBelieves. I think as a team there is nothing to fear. We just have to be ready.

“We’re getting momentum and growing into the tournament. We’re playing some good football and we’re trying to do it consistently over 90 minutes,” Mead continued.

“You’re going to have patches where you don’t play so well, but I think we rode that out, played some good football on Thursday and scored three goals

“As a team we generally don’t go OTT on celebrating but we’re in the semi-final of a World Cup, it’s an amazing feeling, and the girls just went for it on Thursday night. It showed how much it meant to us, to win like we did on such a big occasion, and get to a semi-final.

“I think there’s a great belief in the team, a great togetherness, and we really do believe we can go on and win it. We’ve just got to actually do it on the pitch now.”

Mead has been used sparingly by Phil Neville and, while you can’t fault his selections given the fact he’s got them this far, you do have to wonder what Mead has to do to get more playing time. She started the first two games but as soon as Toni Duggan was fit again she was benched.

She was one of Arsenal’s stand-out performers in their title-winning season and it seems extremely odd when England start without a single Super League champion in their starting lineup.

”I was lucky enough to start the first two games,” Mead said.

“As a player, of course, you are going to be disappointed to (then) not play. But these are the things that happen in football and you have to learn how to deal with them

“I wanted to come on (against Norway) and try to prove a point again, why I deserve to be in the starting XI, and I guess kind of give Phil the biggest headache, for me and Toni.

“Like me and Toni have said, we are making each other better, because we have to be better than each other to be on the pitch. So it’s the best for the team overall.”

England face the US on