They have shifted through the gears and it is all systems go: England are in World Cup mode.
With eight months to go until the tournament kicks off in Qatar, you may think that all sounds a little bit premature.
But, when you take a closer look, it really isn't. Including Saurday's friendly versus Switzerland and Tuesday's clash against the Ivory Coast - England have just eight games to fine tune their plan before the start of the tournament.
England are gearing up for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in eight months time
Gareth Southgate's side host both Switzerland and Ivory Coast in friendlies at Wembley
The added complication of a November World Cup, squeezed in midway through what will be a brutally congested domestic campaign, raises its own unprecedented challenges - as will the fact they head to Qatar as genuine contenders to lift the trophy.
And, of course, the issue of Qatar's dreadful human rights record has provided Southgate and his players with another treacherous problem to solve, though the England boss did virtually guarantee that boycotting the World Cup in protest against the atrocities is a non-starter.
'The support staff have been in tournament mode for a long time really; it's over two years ago that we decided where we wanted to be based,' said Southgate.
'We've been working on projects behind the scenes, on preparations for those things for a number of months.
'The draw is the next stage of that really in terms of them being able to analyse the immediate opposition more closely. So that never stops really.
Qatar's human rights record has provided Southgate with plenty of problems to solve
'That's something where we are further advanced two tournaments on because some of the basics we know work are in place now.
'But the circumstances of this particular tournament are different and the fact that there's between seven and 10 days between the last league game and the first game of the tournament that is quite an extreme situation.
'We've got to factor flying, getting over the time difference, some climate change within that, trying not to disrupt training pattern too much across those days.
'Medically, there will be some big calls really quickly. The scenario we had with Kalvin Phillips last summer where he popped his shoulder in the 92nd minute of the last game, that's going to take a really quick call this time so there is going to need to be a lot of collaboration with clubs.
'I think we've identified all of those issues and it's now just having the plans to deal with it.' One thing Southgate appears to have
