“This is the best England group for a very long time. That’s a fact. No-one can take that away from us.”
England’s thrilling 6-4 win against France secured the Three Lions a World Cup bronze medal – their best finish since they won the trophy in 1966 – and left Declan Rice adamant major tournament success is “close”.
Despite the criticism of Thomas Tuchel’s tactics since their painful semi-final collapse against Argentina, stand-in captain Rice was quick to praise England’s efforts at the tournament.
He added: “I think we can be proud as a group – we are just gutted we lost in that semi-final.
“We’re tired of saying we’re proud of coming in semi-finals and quarter-finals – we want to win with England ultimately. But to come third in this tournament is a real achievement.
“We’re so close, honestly. There’s been so much talk about this group over the last few years going out of tournaments. There’s been semi-final exits, quarter-finals, finals.