A poor game. England huffed and puffed in the first half, and played much better in the second, only to be done on the break. There is a lot to look forward too. The foundations of a very good side is there. Very few of the squad are over 26. Sessegnon from Fulham is getting rave reviews. Hopefully he keeps his head screwed on and he can be the next long term left back. Another central defender is needed. Jones was once touted as an England captain. He'll never get there now. Luke Shaw has gone the same way. He was in the 2014 squad. He'll not get a look in as long as he's at Man U. Rashford has flashes. He and Lingard need to leave Man U so they can play consistently. I'm sure Klopp would turn Rashford into a world beater, but that will never happen. Stones did well, but will he get a game for City? The successful youth team players should be looking to play abroad. Sancho has gone. Lookman at Everton wants to. I shall look forward to the final tomorrow, and not before long the league season will start and all will be forgotten.

I suggested taking Trippier and Alli off for Dier and Delph, and switching to 4-4-1-1. Walker as an orthodox right back. Dier and Henderson in the middle, Delph on the left. That would have cut off their full backs who were causing havoc. You are correct though, a second goal would have killed it off.

The dream is over. It was a good ride, yet defeat at such a late stage is always hard to take. However, England have a lot to look forward to, unlike previous tournaments. This article from 2011 is very interesting; Southgate's vision. Progress from that plan is now being seen. I do think that some of the England squad need more playing time. Rashford and Lingard will not get any better playing for Mourinho.

I think Benzema is not under consideration for his part in a blackmail plot against former France team mate Valbuena. Anyway, come on England! Same 11 as last time out.

Belgium started better then once France got to grips with Belgium's system it was only a matter of time. Fellaini got caught out on the goal. When you have Hazard starting in his own half you are doing something right. He is some talent though. Lukaku keeps his flat track bully tag intact. Goals against Tunisia and Panama, nothing since. Although he did play well against Brazil. Matuidi was man of the match for me; he was everywhere. I wonder if he's concussed. Although even if he is he'll be back out for the final as FIFA aren't bothered about it.

Until the game we won't know. I am with you in that If Modric and Ratikic get space they'll cause havoc. However, our back 5 are better than the shower that Argentina put out. I wouldn't change a winning team though.

I still say Southgate will keep the same 11. He has a system and will continue to use it. All 4 of the front men can drop in and help out. Kane did it against Colombia, Alli did a lot of it against Sweden. Croatia battered Argentina because they were crap, then struggled against Denmark and Russia as they were very defensively organised.

I agree with you. I don't think that Southgate will change much at all. He'll spend the next few days working on refining set pieces, and getting their minds right. Modric is class. He is someone to watch, but they don't have 11 of him..

I thought England were solid. No one a bad game. Some had iffy moments but overall it was a good performance. Sterling is still getting pelters. He's not finishing but his contribution yesterday was very good. He never stops moving. I'd rather play Croatia than Russia. Same team again for the next game. No injuries, no suspensions, and no extra time fatigue. Come on England.

Yep. If I was going to make changes, those 2 would be it. I've mentioned Young a few times. I'll go with Southgate sticking with the same 11 though.

England doesn't have a great record against Sweden, but the more they go on and on about how they are going to win I think the more motivation it gives England. I've read Hakan Mild, Andreas Grandqvist, and even Sven Eriksson talking up their chances. It will be very tight.

You've done nothing but moan and groan about England. You need to give it a rest. We are through to the last 8. Enjoy it.

James has not bene fit for the whole tournament. He missed game 1 and came off last time. Hopefully he hasn't recovered as he is a dangerous player. Cuadrado is an interesting one. Undeniable talent but was useless at Chelsea. I'm not worried about him. I've said it before but don't mock the BBC until you've spent 2 weeks watching Alexi Lalas. You'll be craving Ferdinand after that. England can do it today.

Catching up on today's posts and some got me thinking about England's World Cup exploits in my lifetime. Looking back England have had some bad luck, and idiotic individual mistakes. 1982 - went out without losing a game. Weird format, but a 0-0 against West Germany in the 2nd group stage allowed them to advance to the semis. 1986 - Maradona's hand of God. England didn't start playing until 2-0 down. 1990 - lost on pens in the semis to the winners. 1994 - didn't qualify. Did I not like that. 1998 - 2nd round penalty loss to Argentina. Played with 10 men for a long stretch due to Beckham's sending off. Robbed of a winner early in extra time. 2002 - Quarter final loss to Brazil, the eventual winners. Beckham bottling a tackle and Seaman nailed to the floor caused the goals. I'll leave the fact that they played with 10 men for ages out of it. Probably about right. 2006 - QF penalty loss to Portugal. Again played with 10 men. This time Rooney was the offender. 2010 - first knockout round defeat to Germany. Completely outplayed, but had a potential equalizer disallowed just before half time. 2014 - out without wining a game.

Mexico are out in the first knockout round again. It was always going to be hard for them to beat Brazil but they hardly helped themselves by playing old man Marquez from the off. Regarding Neymar's antics. It's a hard one. He gets kicked from pillar to post each game, but doesn't half make a meal out of every one of them. Layun tried to do him, but made it subtle enough that he got away with it.

Spain paid for being too pedestrian. They have so much skill but no end product. They didn't impress before today, and went out to an organized and enthusiastic home nation. When they were the kings of the world they had killer strikers with pace in Villa and Torres who would benefit from incisive through balls that Spain's crew could play regularly. As good as Costa is he's not a player who can run in behind defenders, thus stifling the attack. Add that to the fact that Spain have no pace in midfield to run past Costa made it worse. Costa should have stuck with the nation of his birth. Croatia-Denmark was a very boring game that cried out for some excitement. Some bad penalties failed to add to it. I appreciate the take on the Modric penalty. I thought it should have been a red, but if the rule is a genuine attempt for a ball isn't one, then so be it. It's been a wonderful world cup. There are more hair raisers to come. For the first time in a while England have a cohesive team. Let's back them and hope for the best on Tuesday. This weekend has proven that team play is worth more than individual talent.

France - Argentina was a great game. Sampaoli should have been fired after their 2nd game. It's definite now. As has been said, he has some real attacking talent at his disposal yet plays no name Argentine league players ahead of quality goal scorers. Otamendi needs a long ban. For the 2nd time this tournament he booted a ball at a player lying on the ground. Clown.

The press need something to batter England for, this is the latest overblown reaction. It's ridiculous. It's also par for the course on here that people moan and groan. Southgate did what he saw best for the team. As has been said, if he played Kane and then Kane picked up an injury it would have been a much worse outcome. Professional athletes want to win. Those lads playing on Thursday want more game time so wanted to impress. There has been endless debate on Rashford v. Sterling. I don't think that Rashford did enough to warrant a start. It would have been in his best interest to run rings around Belgium and have scored 2 giving Southgate a real headache. As it was he ran up a lot of blind alleys and missed an absolute sitter. England were through after 2 games therefore Southgate was preparing for the next round. I doubt that he thought "ooh, I'll lose this one so we may get an easier quarter final opponent." He will take it 1 game at a time. I think that England are the only team to use all 20 outfield players. That experience is invaluable.

I'm with you. Southgate didn't rest players to try to finish 2nd. He did it to give his key men time to recuperate, and the others in the squad valuable World Cup match time. Every game is hard. As a fan I'd rather not play Brazil and France, but England's record against Sweden and Switzerland isn't great either. All concentration should be on Colombia. They are a very handy side.

What an odd experience that game was. I was all in on England winning, saw the team sheet and thought the same. Yet with 10 minutes to go I was hoping that England wouldn't score as not only were England going to the softer side of the draw but I now have an afternoon of drinking to look forward to, followed by July 4th. The game itself was akin to a preseason friendly with players auditioning for a contract. A genuine bit of skill form Belgium won the game. I've been calling for Rose to paly ahead of Young but ironically he would have stopped Januzaj's shot as it would have been on his good side. Rashford should have made it 1-1 though. It's hard to say that any player was poor. I will say that Southgate played this one well. Few people knew that he was going to make wholesale changes. He kept his first 11 fresh whilst, now, letting the rest know that they must improve to get a chance. Onward and upward.

Serbia look technically proficient with little end product. They knock it around well but have to lump it high for Mitrovic as he can't do anything else. Brazil haven't impressed either.

I'm of the opposite opinion. A win builds momentum, something that England never get at tournaments. Most fans complain about England's defence. Another game playing together will do them good.

There's some good old fashioned BRFCS negativity going on after the Panama game despite the great result. England slowed it down in the second half as they didn't want to get involved in any antics that the Panamanians were trying. Cooper, I think, elbowed both Lingard and Maguire. Others were rolling around like they were on fire if an England player touched them. It was disgraceful from Panama. They were much inferior and resorted to idiocy. Kane may have scored a fortunate 3rd but his 2 penalties were taken with real confidence. Hard to take that away from him. Be happy with what commentators you have. Fox have the World Cup in the USA. I had to listen to ex USA women's international Ally Wagner during the England game. There's also Dr. Joe Machnick who provides referee analysis periodically. He's modelled on their NFL coverage, and is useless. Studio insight is provided by Alexi Lalas, who is a first class goon.

Portugal - Spain was a classic, the Germany game ran it close. Intense from beginning to end. Sweden should have had a penalty, and with better decision making could have had another. But the Germans win for a reason. Kroos has won it all at every level. that mentality keeps them moving. I was surprised that Gomez wasn't their starting striker. He will be after today. Werner is good but he doesn't fit into the modern German team. Gomez is the latest big man post Klinnsmann. They've had; 20+ years of them; Bierhoff, Jancker, Klose., Gomez. If my memory serves me Klose didn't start the first game in 2014. As soon as he did they started winning. Come on England.

If Tito would have lasted a bit longer or the former Yugoslav's managed to get along a bit better they could have own a World Cup. Genuine talent everywhere. Red Star Belgrade won the European Cup. It all fell apart after that.