Phil Foden scores a special goal against Brentford, the technique was out of this world

We are just nine days away from England's World Cup opener against Iran and Manchester City's 'star boy' Phil Foden has sent a very clear message to Gareth Southgate.

The 22-year-old attacking midfielder, who has been in fine form for the reigning Premier League champions this season, netted his eighth goal of the season against Brentford on Saturday.

After going 1-0 down to an Ivan Toney header, Pep Guardiola's side struggled to really get into the game for large spells of the first-half.

But that man Foden equalised for the Cityzens with a finish out of the very top draw.

As you can see in the footage below, the play starts when Kevin de Bruyne whips in a dangerous corner from the right hand side.

His cross then drops over the head of City defender Manuel Akanji but bounces up kindly for Foden, who smashes it home with a quite magnificent half-volley.

How good is this from the Stockport Iniesta? Brentford goalkeeper David Raya had no chance in between the sticks.

Earlier this week, Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper, who won the Under-17s World Cup in 2017 with England and Foden, backed the Manchester City man to shine at this winter's tournament in Qatar.

"There is no doubting Phil's ability, he is showing now at Man City that he can produce on a big stage and he was doing that for England with my time with him," Cooper said via The Athletic.

"He scored some really important goals, scored in the Euros finals for the 17s, I remember him scoring some really important goals in the World Cup, including a couple in the final.

"The performance he gave in the semi-final against Brazil was just fantastic. He played against Brazil and he was the most Brazilian player on the pitch.

"He was showing then that he could produce big moments in the big games and he has continued doing that. Like them all now, he wants to go and do it at the World Cup."

Foden was named in England's 26-man squad on Thursday ahead of the Qatar World Cup. Should he start for the Three Lions this winter?

Let us know in the comments.