Steven Gerrard has praised England’s national football team for doing better than his ‘Golden Generation’ ever could.

England lost 2-1 to Croatia after the game went to extra time in Russia, and the team will have to play Belgium in the third-place play off on Saturday.

It would have been the first time that England had qualified for a major final since 1966, and was their first World Cup semi-final since 1990, and first major semi-final since Euro 96.

Gerrard, now the managers of SPL side Rangers, told of his disappointment in seeing England fail to make it through to the final, saying:

“I’m gutted for the players and I’m gutted for Gareth because, as everyone knows, it was an incredible opportunity to go to a World Cup final.

“Having reflected on it for 24 hours you can be nothing but proud of the players and the coaching staff. They did an awful lot better than I ever done, or we ever done.”

While Gerrard won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, he failed to match his club performances and achievements with the national side, with players such as Sol Campbell, Frank Lampard, Paul Scholes, Jamie Carragher, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand, with the group of players known as the ‘Golden Generation’.

That side never made its way beyond a quarter final, but Gerrard was effusive in his praise for the current side, who may give Gareth Southgate a new deal in recognition of his achievements:

“All I can do is tip my hat and congratulate them. They deserve a hell of a reception when they return and let’s hope it’s the start of something big for them. I was mightily impressed by them.

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“Yes we got a bit of luck with the draw and came up against teams we proved to be better than.

“But in the end Croatia were a little bit too good and had a little bit too much in the tank. But we can’t be critical of what they’ve done, they were absolutely superb.”

Gerrard was speaking after Rangers’ 2-0 win over Macedonian side FC Shkupi, in the first leg of their Europa League qualifying tie.