Southgate wants players to hold heads high despite agonising loss

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John Stones saw a header cleared off the line in extra time, before Juventus striker Mandzukic’s winner.

At the final whistle, England’s players collapsed to the ground, some of them in tears, but they were cheered by the fans as they left the field.

Southgate added: “I think it’s clear to everybody the progress that has been made in terms of the level of performance and the togetherness of the group.

“There are a lot of things that have been hugely positive for us — experiences that we have come through that an inexperienced team has to go through to get better.

“Compared to two years ago, this is a hugely different journey and hugely different experiences.

“To become a winning team, these are the hurdles that you have to overcome, and we have surpassed many of those over the last few weeks.”

Croatia, who knocked out Denmark and hosts Russia in the previous two rounds, will face France back at the Luzhniki Stadium in Sunday’s final.

England will now play Belgium in Saturday’s third place play-off in St Petersburg.