While England’s achievement of reaching the semi-finals of World Cup 2018 should be celebrated, the third-place play-off defeat against Belgium on Saturday shows the Three Lions still have a long way to go to compete with the best.
England were no doubt in the easier side of the draw and when faced with better quality teams suffered defeats. These defeats will teach the inexperienced players and boss Gareth Southgate essential lessons.
Belgium, for example, has world-class players in their ranks, with a high number of the Red Devils squad plying their trade in England. The English players have a chance to learn from these highly gifted stars.
They train and play alongside the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku with their clubs. These players have won silverware at the highest level.
The current group of English players are highly inexperienced. However, they showed that there is promise for the future. They can develop over the next few years with the addition of some players from the younger age groups and England can get better.
England boss Gareth Southgate will also know that he and his players still have a lot to learn to be in the top echelon of the international game.
The Three Lions have started something positive in Russia by getting the fans back on side after years of negativity towards the national team. Southgate has done a sterling job of guiding the team to the semi-finals.
The former Middlesbrough boss has stated that he is already looking forward to the Euro 2020 qualifiers in September. Southgate needs to keep the positive momentum going into those games.
If he can, then England will have a chance of one day competing with the big boys of international football. World Cup 2018 may be the start of something special for the England national. However, they still have a long to go to compete with the top international teams.