THE VERDICT: ENGLAND 1 CROATIA 2

SO, it isn’t coming home after all!

England’s World Cup dreams came to a crushing end after Croatia rallied to prevent Gareth Southgate’s men reaching the country’s first final in 52 years.

The Three Lions’ hopes of replicating the heroes of 1966 were extinguished in Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium semi-final as they slipped to heartbreaking defeat in extra-time.

Kieran Trippier’s exceptional early free-kick had England dreaming of facing France on Sunday, but Croatia will line-up in their first World Cup final after Ivan Perisic levelled in the second half and Mario Mandzukic struck to secure victory in extra-time.

While few predicted Southgate’s side getting anywhere near Sir Alf Ramsey’s champions at the start of the summer, this bold, young side had looked capable of doing the unthinkable in Russia.

But what Southgate, the players and the fans will take from this competition is it can be just the start.

They were the youngest squad in the competition, and played in with a freedom England teams have been unable to find since reaching the last four in Italia ‘90. The manager rightly has won plenty of plaudits. And he will still be in the role come the Euros in two years’ time - as will the bulk of the squad. And when you add in some of the young talent coming through - such as City’s Stockport-born Phil Foden – this side will only get stronger and will believe now they can compete in major tournaments. England’s hopes of reaching that elusive World Cup final grew as they took a fifth-minute lead through a stunning free-kick from Trippier, whose curledshot would have made his idol David Beckham proud. But the Three Lions were unable to press home their advantage despite several changes - including a golden one for the tournament’s leading scorer Harry Kane, who fired against the post from close range. And as Croatia come more into the match in the second half, Southgate’s men were made to pay as Perisic snuck ahead of Kyle Walker to fire the ball home. England were suddenly Trippier (5) Perisic (68), Mandzukic (108) 45% 55% 11 22 Rebic 4 8 Walker Mandzukic, Cuneyt Cakir looking second best, but the managed to hold to force the game into extra-time.

With Croatia’s previous two matches both having gone to penalties, there were hopes they may tire.

But after John Stones’ header was cleared off the lane, the City defender was at fault as Mandzukic snuck in behind him to land the killer blow.

England players collapsed on the floor as the final whistle ended their hopes of glory.

Southgate, unsurprisingly, kept his composure despite suffering more semi-final heartache, having missed the crucial penalty in the Euro ‘96 shoot-out defeat to Germany. It was a galling evening for his team, but the future looks bright, even if it is hard after a gut punch that leaves them facing Belgium in Saturday’s third-placed play-off.