Having had what amounted to a bye into the Euro 2016 finals — Switzerland, Slovenia, Estonia, Lithuania and San Marino barely made England break sweat — Roy Hodgson will have a better idea of how far his team has come since the 2014 World Cup when it takes on Germany in Berlin on Saturday night.
There is still the well founded suspicion that while England is a serial qualifier for major finals, it will also return home after the quarterfinals in France, probably following a penalty shootout loss. It is what England tends to do.
However, two years ago England didn't even make it past the group stage in Brazil. A Euro 2016 qualifying campaign that saw England go through with a 100 percent record, scoring 31 goals and conceding three has raised spirits after the misery of Brazil. Yet when England played a team of note last November, it lost 2-0 to Spain in Alicante, a reality check which underlined the gap it has have to bridge in June. Final judgement is reserved until the real thing starts in France.