Southgate so proud of his men

20 minutes from the World Cup Final, so for the players to lift themselves for this game was very difficult.

“Physically and emotionally, to go to the wire in the semi-final was an incredible experience for everybody.

“That’s on the back of a quarter-final and a second round game that went to the death as well.

“You are so close to the biggest possible prize and after losing everyone wanted to go home.

“But we wanted to try and get a medal today. The players and staff were keen to finish on a positive note.

“But no recriminations – the effort was there.

“The quality of play at times was there up to a point, but quite simply we’ve played a better team.

“We have played a team who are far ahead of us in terms of their development as a group and are probably Belgium’s bestever team. We’re not at that stage just yet.”

Meanwhile, Manchester City are richer after Russia.

The Premier League champions will receive a payout of £3.9million from FIFA as compensation for their players taking part in the tournament.

It is part of a package worth nearly £31m to clubs from England alone.

City’s total is the highest, with Real Madrid second on £3.85m.