England can look forward to a bright future as Gareth Southgate's Three Lions bid for World Cup glory in Qatar, according to Antonio Rudiger.
The new Real Madrid defender got a first-hand look at the Euro 2020 runners-up when Germany were held to a 1-1 Nations League draw in Munich on Tuesday.
It was the hosts who had the majority of possession but Harry Kane's late penalty – his 50th international goal – sealed a point for Southgate's men, cancelling out Jonas Hoffman's strike.
Rudiger, who signed for Madrid after his Chelsea contract expired, was impressed by England's strength in depth, and reserved special praise for Jack Grealish, who came off the bench in midweek.
"The England squad has great quality," he said.
"It's like [Bukayo] Saka comes out, Grealish comes in. I saw a lot of big, big names were on the bench.
"England have a lot to be optimistic about for the future. I think you people don't need to worry too much. The English players are definitely getting better.
"You have to think about it like this, that players like [Marcus] Rashford and [Jadon] Sancho didn't even make the squad.
"That tells you that you have a lot of depth in the English squad and you have big, big players like Harry Kane, [Raheem] Sterling and Grealish – big names, big players.
"I think Grealish gave the team a real impact – because he came on and he gave good one v ones and everything.
"He is a very dangerous player and those sort of players are going to win you games."
England will face Wales, Iran and the United States in Group B at the World Cup, which starts on November 21.
George laments 'unforgivable' England showing after last-gasp Australia defeat
England captain Jamie George labelled his side's performance as "unforgivable" after their 42-37 defeat to Australia on Saturday.
The Red Rose came flying out of the blocks with two early tries from Chandler Cunningham-South before Australia hit back through Tom Wright and Harry Wilson at Twickenham.
Noah Lolesio's penalty ensured the Wallabies snatched a 20-18 lead at the break, only for England replacement Ollie Sleightholme to drag his side ahead with a brilliant double.
Andrew Kellaway and Mario Itoje exchanged late scores for either side before Max Jorgensen’s last-gasp try secured victory for Australia.
George lamented his side's defensive showing after ending on the wrong side of a high-scoring thriller.
"I think the blueprint of how we wanted to play was in the first 20 minutes," George told TNT Sport. "We put Australia under a lot of pressure. Sometimes in a Test match like that you think the job is done.
"We took our foot off the gas. Credit to Australia they were very good but we cannot keep doing that, it will be a tough one to watch back.
"It is a fine balance between closing up shop and trying to see out the win rather than attacking. We talk about being brave and courageous and that [Itoje] try was exactly that. We will look at being better.
"The system and the principle all work. We know it works, but we didn't quite get what we wanted out if it.
"Leaking 42 points at home is unforgivable. They got front-foot ball and then have some pretty good runners outside."
Saturday marked the first time England have lost four Test matches in a row since 2018, when they suffered five straight defeats under Eddie Jones.
England head coach Steve Borthwick echoed George's sentiment after the Autumn Nations Series defeat.
"Gutting. We made such a number of errors, and it gave opportunities to the opposition to run in tries and they did," he told TNT Sport.
"In terms of our mindset, you are seeing a team wanting to move the ball and we want that, but we have to understand the consequences of it, and we saw that here.
"We didn't give our defence the chance to show what it can do, there was so much turnover and loose ball that the system couldn't set itself.
"There'll be no shortage of motivation for next week for South Africa."
Buttler feared losing white-ball captaincy after World Cup double whammy
Jos Buttler has said he was worried about losing the England white-ball captaincy during a disappointing period for his country.
England recently lost both of their world titles in both T20 and ODI, with head coach Matthew Mott sacked as a result.
Buttler, meanwhile, was spared by managing director Rob Key, with incoming manager Brendon McCullum, who is expanding his England role to include coaching the ODI and T20I teams until 2027, also expressing his confidence in Buttler's role as captain.
The 34-year-old will return for England on Saturday as they face West Indies in the first of their five-match T20 series. It will be the first time since the T20 World Cup semi-final exit in June that Buttler has played for his country.
"I thought it was a possibility, absolutely," he admitted when asked whether he thought he could have lost the captaincy.
"But Keysy believed I could lead the team forward and captain into the future. I had some good conversations with him and I said I didn't want to be doing it because I'm the only person to do it. I want to be doing it because I'm the right person to do it.
"I've really enjoyed the honour of doing it, it's something I believe I can do well, something I know I can always get better at, just as with batting or wicketkeeping, it's a skill that you can improve.
"It actually became very clear that you're determined to do it and keep going."
Guardiola unhappy with Grealish's selection in England squad
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is unhappy with Jack Grealish's inclusion in the England squad for the November international break.
Grealish has not played for his club side since a 17-minute substitute appearance in their 2-1 stoppage-time victory over Wolves, which came straight after the previous international window.
England interim manager Lee Carsley had justified the winger's inclusion in the squad by saying that he had been back in training for "a couple of days" and would be assessed by national team staff.
But, having already ruled him out of Saturday's match against Brighton, Guardiola found the decision difficult to accept and suggested that Carsley was mistaken about his training activity.
"National teams always play in this period, and I'm always pleased for players to go when they are fit, and they haven't struggled for the past one, two, three or four weeks," Guardiola told a press conference.
"In 17 days, he didn't train once. Today was the first training and he trained for 20 minutes. That is the reality.
"Yes, he was in the gym for a few minutes for the past two days, but it's a question for the manager from the UK [England] – I'm not involved."
Guardiola had not been in touch with Carsley about the situation, and he was unaware of any conversations between the medical departments at the FA and Manchester City.
But when talking to Grealish, who is yet to score in 10 appearances in all competitions for City this season, the player wanted to join up with England.
"They can select who they want," said Guardiola. "Jack has had two or three setbacks in terms of injuries and could not get his rhythm."
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