OKAY, it wasn’t perfect. England failed to convert a host of first-half chances as they made their World Cup bow against Tunisia, and ran out of ideas as their opponents looked to shut up shop after the break. They conceded a soft, if controversial, penalty, and remain hugely reliant on Harry Kane when it comes to putting the ball in the net.

But surely some of the pessimism that accompanied Monday’s game in Volgograd was way over the top? For a start, England won, and as we know from bitter experience, that is a rare occurrence at a World Cup finals.

It is 12 years since England last won their opening World Cup match, and that success over Paraguay came courtesy of a scrappy own goal. In the last two tournaments, a 1-0 win over Slovenia was England’s only victory in seven outings.

As Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Spain and Portugal have all discovered in the last week, it is never easy to win at a World Cup finals. Belgium might have outclassed Panama in the second half of their game on Monday, and Croatia might have looked good against Nigeria, but France and Uruguay stuttered as they scrambled opening-game wins. With three points on the board, England are in a much better position than many of the sides who are still regarded as World Cup favourites.

Not only that, but for at least half-an-hour, they played some of the best football produced by an England side at a major tournament for many a year. True, they didn’t make the most of it because of some wastefulness in front of goal, with Raheem Sterling and Jesse Lingard especially culpable, but it was still a thrill to see an England team looking to get on the front foot and play with freedom.

With both full-backs bombing forward, Jordan Henderson pulling the strings with some pinpoint long-range passes, and Sterling, Lingard and Dele Alli breaking at pace to support Kane, England looked as threatening before the interval as any side competing in Russia, with the possible exception of Spain.

There was a pace and purpose to England’s play that Gareth Southgate has been looking to cultivate from the moment he took over from Sam Allardyce at the start of the qualifying campaign. Unlike at the last World Cup in Brazil, when England seemed terrified to commit players into the penalty area, Southgate’s side attacked in numbers, with the movement of their front four causing a host of problems.

There is a growing clamour for Marcus Rashford to start Sunday’s game against Panama ahead of Sterling, but to me, that would be a mistake. For all that Sterling’s lack of composure in front of goal remains a key problem in an England shirt – he has now scored just two goals in 39 international matches – his pace and agility are major assets that unsettle opposition defences. He has to start adding some goals to his game, but he remains a player that Panama and Belgium will be fearful of facing.

That is not to say Rashford will not have a major role to play in Russia though, and Southgate’s bold use of substitutes was another positive aspect of Monday’s game.

Unlike at the last Euros, when Rashford was afforded less than three minutes to try to make a difference against Iceland, the Manchester United striker was introduced midway through the second half against Tunisia. His direct running made a difference, as did the energy and drive provided by Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who won the corner that eventually led to Kane’s winning header.

With a succession of England managers having been rightly criticised for being too indulgent of their biggest names, it is to Southgate’s credit that he has moulded a squad where he appears willing to play anyone.

That said, though, he will not be in a rush to replace Kane, and on a night when missed chances looked like proving costly, it says much that England’s captain converted the two opportunities that came his way.

Prior to Monday, Kane’s major tournament record was wretched, but he delivered in style, and while his first goal was something of a sitter, it would have been easy to make a mess of the stoppage-time header that he glanced into the Tunisian net.

Kane is up and running in the race for the Golden Boot – I love the fact he clearly thinks he can finish as top scorer – and England are up and running in their pursuit of a place in the last 16.

Panama next, where a repeat of Monday’s opening 30 minutes, allied to a touch more polish in front of goal, would surely suffice.