England want to be best side in the world after statement win over Spain, says Kieran Trippier

Kieran Trippier has revealed England have set their sights on becoming the best team on the planet after last night’s landmark victory over Spain sent a clear message to world football’s elite.

England ended a 31-year wait for ­success on Spanish soil with a 3-2 win as the hosts conceded three goals in a competitive fixture at home for the first time in their history.

After reaching the World Cup semi-finals in Russia during the summer, England are continuing to improve under Gareth Southgate, with Euro 2020 the next opportunity to land major silverware.

“You want to play against the best and we want to be the No1 team,” Trippier told Standard Sport. “It was a great night and we move forward now.

“We want to beat the big teams. In the past few games we have had draws and not scored, but I think last night we showed we can beat the top teams and defend well against the top teams. It was a statement last night and, ­hopefully, in the future, we can put performances in like this as well.

“We want to win every game and play like that in every game. We know how well we can play as a team and last night in the first half we showed that. It is something to build on, we have a lot of confidence going into the next games. We just have to keep working on our formation in training and, ­hopefully, on matchdays we can put out the performances.

“It is good to come to places like this for the young lads to get the experience and, obviously, for me as well.”

Raheem Sterling struck twice either side of Marcus Rashford’s sixth ­international goal to send England 3-0 up at half-time before Paco Alcacer and Sergio Ramos replied for Spain.

The result keeps alive England’s hopes of topping Nations League

Group A4 but, of more significance, it represents an important step in Southgate’s mission to start delivering consistent results against the very best sides.

Southgate’s starting line-up boasting England’s youngest average age since 1959. Trippier was the only player older than 25, while Sterling was the most experienced, marking his 46th cap with his first international goals in more than three years.

Nathaniel Chalobah made his debut in stoppage time, just three days after Jadon Sancho did the same against Croatia and with Southgate also evolving England’s system from 3-5-2 to 4-3-3, there is a genuine sense of progression from the World Cup campaign.

“The players who came in the other day did very well and we have got so much young talent coming through into what’s already a young team,” added Trippier (above). “It is a bright future for this England squad. We learned a lot as a group and individuals at the World Cup. The manager has changed the formation and I think it releases the forwards more to press.

“Maybe sometimes at the World Cup, we were getting dominated in possession, but in this system that we are playing now, the midfielders can press easier higher up the field and we can play better. In the past two games, we played fantastic against difficult opponents as well.”