Kirkland has provided Flashscore with expert punditry throughout the 2026 World Cup, weighing in on the crucial talking points surrounding England's time in North America.
Thomas Tuchel's side needed extra-time and another special Jude Bellingham performance to defeat Norway in the quarter-finals - with the overall performance leaving a lot to be desired.
"I don't think it was the best performance," Kirkland admits. "I don't think we've played well this tournament, but that's a great sign for me because to not play well and still be in the semi-final is brilliant.
"But the one thing we have done is just shown true grit and determination through really, really tough conditions."
England started slowly in the clash with Norway and went behind after Andreas Schelderup's cross whipped past everyone and into the far post.
Bellingham came to the rescue with a late first-half equaliser, but several changes from Tuchel in the second period left the Three Lions scrambling at times to contain their opposition.
Only a disallowed goal prevented the Norwegians from going in front, although Kirkland insisted that the referee made the correct call after Erling Haaland pushed Elliot Anderson over in the build-up.
"Norway were better in the second half for me and they had the better chances. I think we rode our luck at times.
"Obviously, the disallowed goal, it was a foul. Haaland's pushed him.
"We were under the cosh. I think we were knackered. You can tell we ran out of steam to play.
"It was very difficult and they had to, again, like the Mexico game, they had to defend.
"But all credit to them because if you're going to win World Cups, you cannot play great every game."
Jude Bellingham stars again
England superstar Bellingham was the difference-maker once again, converting from close range at the start of extra-time.
The 23-year-old now has six goals at the 2026 World Cup and is the leading midfielder at the competition - with his displays drawing praise across the footballing world.
"He's been the player of the tournament," Kirkland said.
"But it won't mean anything to him if we don't go on and win it. He'd sacrifice all that to win it for England. I'd like to think he would.
"He's had to stand up. Harry Kane was very quiet – there's not two games on the spin where Harry Kane's quiet, which is a great sign for us (against Argentina).
"He's doing everything right. On the pitch, it's the one person at the minute you want the ball to fall to and it seems to be doing that."
A major talking point coming out of the Norway clash was the reaction from both Bellingham and Tuchel in their post-match interviews.
The manager criticised his team's technical performance but heaped praise on the team's mentality and the role played by his star midfielder - but Bellingham was only informed of the former ahead of his comments after the game, leading to a frosty reaction from the Real Madrid man.
"It's not ideal you don't want things like that to happen after games and you Bellingham should have just said, 'Yeah', even if he doesn't agree," Kirkland admitted.
"The press stir it up a little bit and as they smell blood they go after it full pelt.
"We know there's been a little bit of needle between them in the past for whatever reason and the press have obviously jumped on that again.
"But that'll all be (dealt with) behind closed doors. Tuchel to me is a man who says what he wants to say and I think that's brilliant.
"If he'd come out and said, 'We played brilliantly', everyone would have gone, 'No, you didn't'. So he's told exactly the truth.
"What we did do brilliantly was we fought. We fought and we've got that never-give-up attitude at the minute. He's instilled that in the players and the fans are believing."
A cagey affair with Argentina
Looking ahead to Wednesday's semi-final against Argentina, one of the biggest questions has been how England will deal with global icon Lionel Messi.
The 39-year-old has been one of the tournament's standout performers once again and leads the scoring charts with seven goals.
Kirkland examined his role in the side and how his teammates gear the game towards getting the best out of him - as well as how England might manage the superstar's influence on the match.
"I imagine they're working on it. Are they going to put somebody on him? Are they going to stick Declan Rice in and around Messi? You wouldn't say no to that, would you? I'm sure they're assessing everything.
"Listen, he's not the only one. I think you look at Argentina's players, as soon as they have the ball, they're looking where he is. They're looking for Messi. So I would probably put somebody on him.
"I know he's slightly older now, but he can beat four or five players if he wants to."
The Argentines themselves have had a similar tournament to England, with a couple of strong performances but plenty of sub-par showings that have ultimately been rescued by their key players.
Lionel Scaloni's side have been on the right end of three tight encounters in the knockout stages so far, needing extra-time to beat Cape Verde and Switzerland, while also having to come from 2-0 down to defeat Egypt 3-2.
Their aggressive style will be a new one for England to deal with, as well as the ongoing conspiracy that referees are favouring the reigning champions in some areas.
"I don't think they're an outstanding team. But what they are is they win by any means necessary," Kirkland insisted.
"They will kick us. They will go down. They will moan to the ref. They will do everything they can to upset the game, to kill the game at times for no tempo. And they are one of the best teams at that.
"It's going to be a cagey, cagey affair. We've got to be really careful. There's going to be tackles flying in.
"We've got to make sure our lads don't react. We've got to make sure we don't get anyone sent off. That's what they will be trying to do. They'll be trying to get one of our players sent off.
"Obviously, it's been well documented this World Cup about Argentina getting decisions and we're going to have to come through a massive test on the pitch and off it as well."
Potential penalty shootout
There is a good chance the semi-final could go to penalties, given that two of Argentina's fixtures have already gone to extra-time and that both sides are evenly matched heading into the fixture.
England have managed to dispel their shootout demons over the last decade and will be confident if it does go right down to the wire - with goalkeeper Jordan Pickford a reliable performer when it comes to spot-kicks.
Likewise, Argentina has Emiliano Martinez, who is equally impressive when it comes to saving penalties.
Kirkland has worked with both goalkeepers during his career and praised their abilities between the sticks.
"It is agony, penalty shootouts, and we've faced agony in the last couple of tournaments.
"As a goalkeeper, it doesn't get any better than that. You know you've got a chance to be a hero.
"If it was me, I'd be thinking, 'Wow', let's have penalties as a keeper because it's your time to shine."
"I've worked with both keepers. We've got Jordan (Pickford), who will be extremely confident.
"Emi Martinez, I've worked with him at Sheffield Wednesday. He's confident on penalties. He's a very good penalty saver as well.
"If it does go to penalties, it's a toss of a coin."
