John Stones: Euros win over Germany gave England belief they can compete at top

John Stones feels victory over Germany at Euro 2020 gave England the belief they can mix it with the big boys of international football.

Goals from Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane sealed a memorable 2-0 win over their old foes in their round of 16 meeting at Wembley.

After a stuttering group stage, Gareth Southgate’s side were unfancied but turned in one of their best performances to beat Germany in a knockout game for the first time since the 1966 World Cup final.

The two sides meet again in Munich on Tuesday evening as England look to recover from losing their opening Nations League Group A3 fixture in Hungary.

Stones will start at the Allianz Arena having come off the bench in Budapest and he pinpointed the eye-catching win last summer as a landmark moment for the Three Lions.

“In the past, I’ve had a feeling as a team it’s a difficult fixture, or it was a difficult fixture and I feel the mentality has changed almost in that we know that we are capable of winning this game. So there’s a big shift in mentality.

“I think it was probably the turning point in that tournament of feeling the belief that we could go on and try and win this.”

Stones will pick up his 57th senior cap in Munich, the Manchester City defender having established himself as one of Southgate’s first-choice defenders.

But he admits he had doubts he would reach a half-century when a spell out of the City side saw him temporarily lose his England spot.

Stones picked up his 39th cap in the 7-0 European Championship qualifying win over Montenegro in November 2019 but did not return to the side until a World Cup qualifier against San Marino, 16 months and 10 games later.

“I had a dream as a kid, playing for England, trying to get 50 caps for England and I