Fitness of James Rodriguez will decide England against Colombia

The fitness of James Rodriguez may well decide whether Colombia or England reach the World Cup quarter-finals. It's that important.

If James plays then I would go as far to say that the South Americans, although not in the eyes of the bookmakers, would be the more likely team to progress. If he isn't fit or plays through an injury then it could well be Gareth Southgate's side who come through the last-16 tie.

So much of Colombia's play rests on James.

He links with Juan Quintero to bring Juan Cuadrado and Radamel Falcao into play and it was no coincidence that Colombia's best match of the tournament came in their 3-0 win over Poland when James was on song.

Beating Poland so convincingly has given Colombia confidence because it came against European opposition and they know to reach the final it will be more of the same with only Uefa qualifiers in their half of the draw.

Without James they lose so much, particularly in respect of Falcao, who is a forward that wants to be slipped through. Unlike say Luis Suarez or Edinson Cavani, Falcao offers very little outside of the penalty area and it is James and Quintero who supply the Monaco striker.

Colombia's problem comes when they are pushed back and England will fancy their chances of doing that, as Senegal did in the first half of that game on Thursday, but either way it could well be a match of tight margins.

The Premier League has gone bonkers in South America over the last 15 or 20 years so all the English players are well known to the audience even though this is a young Three Lions side.

In Colombia La Liga remains the number one for the glamour of Real Madrid and Barcelona, but Harry Kane is known globally and English football continues to boom in my region.

It was only recently that I was walking around Rio and saw a man in a Grimsby shirt so I went over to say hello - he'd never been to Grimsby, had probably never seen a fish and could not quite explain how it came about that he supported them!

No doubt that guy will swap his Grimsby shirt for a Brazil one for their clash with Mexico. It's a game Brazil should win but there is huge pressure on them and it would go down as a total humiliation if they were lose to Mexico in an important World Cup knockout tie.

Mexico have picked up important results against Brazil at various stages, particularly below senior level, beating them in the Olympic final of 2012 and also the Under-17 World Cup final in 2005.

I was in the stadium for that match in Peru - a 3-0 win for Mexico with Carlos Vela, Javier Hernandez and Giovani dos Santos starting in a game where Marcelo was sent off late on.

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Vela was an out-and-out striker back then but he has been one of the revelations of this tournament and is now so much more than just a goalscorer.

Mexico's Colombian coach Juan Carlos Osorio loves to play with width so he will try to stretch the opposition and that front three of Vela, Hernandez and Hirving Lozano can definitely pose problems given Brazil lack pace, with Thiago Silva preferred to Marquinhos at centre-back.

Marquinhos has every right to feel aggrieved at that decision and I don't see Mexico choking as they have done previously. Against say, the United States, it was about more than football as they absolutely hate them, whereas this time it is possible Mexico will be inspired by being the underdogs.

However, they have it all on to keep Brazil out for 90 minutes. They have more pace and individual trickery compared to Germany, who were beaten 1-0 by Mexico earlier in the competition.

We have seen Brazil turn it on in patches during this tournament but their first goal against Serbia was one of the best of the tournament as it combined individual excellence with the collective team effort.

The tactical understanding was superb as Neymar dropped deep, sucking in defenders and Gabriel Jesus drifted to the left which attracted the Serbian centre-backs across and created the space for Paulinho and he was found perfectly by Philippe Coutinho.

That relationship between Jesus and Neymar is one reason why he is keeping his place ahead of Roberto Firmino, but the calls are coming for a change in the pecking order up front.

Journalists have been going through the record books and cannot find a time when a Brazilian number nine failed to score in the World Cup group stages. Even the much-maligned Fred scored four years ago!

However, Tite was hugely critical of Firmino when he was given a chance in a World Cup qualifier away to Colombia in 2017 on his last start for the national team. He was hauled off to be replaced by Jesus, who has an outstanding international goalscoring record.

My money is on France beating Uruguay in the first quarter-final on Friday. There is surely so much more to come from the French, who are an enigma but also a seriously talented side when they are not posing.

If Uruguay go down they will do so fighting, making life difficult but France just have so much more individual quality and the fact they are playing such determined opponents should see Didier Deschamps' side stay focused for the full 90 minutes this time.

I just wish they would enjoy themselves a little bit more and quite how they managed to get behind at one stage in the second half against Argentina is still a mystery.

Talking of Argentina there are so many question marks beyond whether Lionel Messi sticks around for another World Cup.

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I suspect he may take a break then look to come back for the Copa America in Brazil next summer but who will be the goalkeeper? Where will they get a defence from? Will the coach Jorge Sampaoli stay on?

Sampaoli loves a pound note and so he is unlikely to quit and it will possibly cost them too much to sack him. If he is given the job of rebuilding then clearly many of those from the Messi generation will have to be replaced. By who? I just don't know.

Argentina won the Under-20 World Cup five times between 1995 and 2007 but they have't won since and their teams at that level in recent times have been terrible, which has obviously filtered through to the national team. It could be a painful and long transitional period.

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