The World Cup gave England reasons to be optimistic - but let's not get carried away

The World Cup is finished; France beat Croatia in the final and England’s run ended with a fourth-placed finish.

That defeat to Belgium was the final game of a memorable month out in Russia.

A fourth place finish is far better than anyone imagined before the tournament began, so despite the disappointment at Wednesday night’s semi-final defeat to Croatia, there have been no inquests, no fingers pointed and no negative reaction from the media or fans.

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Yes, people expressed their disappointment that England did not make a strong first half count in that semi-final and that they seemed to run out of ideas during the final 75 minutes of the game. But it was not anger. There was no slamming of this side.

That is not only because England have exceeded all expectations, but because of the manner in which they went about their business.

There has been plenty of praise for their off-field demeanour – and rightly so – yet it is the on-field performances that make it properly memorable.

England did not beat a ‘decent’ side, the naysayers will claim. It was an easy run to the semi-final, they will cry. Do not be fooled by those trying to pour cold water on Gareth Southgate’s side’s exploits.

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The facts do show it was not the most difficult route to the semis, and England fans will not argue with that. Stats show that in terms of the world rankings, it was the fourth easiest ever.

And, yes, when England played the very best – Belgium and Croatia – they were found wanting.

But it is not uncommon for England to sink rather than swim against the opposition they did manage to beat.

Harry Kane did need to score a last-minute winner against Tunisia but remember the first-half performance: when England dominated the North Africans and should have been further ahead when Kyle Walker conceded a penalty.

England’s previous two games against African opposition at the World Cup were poor performances in dull 0-0 draws with Nigeria (2002) and Algeria (2010).

None of those performances came with same approach that we saw for the first half-an-hour of that first game. It was not the England we have come to expect.

Then there was the demolition of Panama in the second group game. It does not matter who the opposition are, beating a side 6-1 in a World Cup is a special achievement.

Watch how Uruguay laboured against Saudi Arabia, how Brazil needed late goals to beat Costa Rica and Portugal drew with Iran. Think about Germany, the World Champions dumped out in the group stages, or Poland, a side with not dissimilar expectations to England prior to the tournament, who finished bottom of their group.

Against Panama, England came up against an admittedly poor side – probably the worst in the tournament – who were intent on kicking anyone in sight during the early stages. But they scored five goals before half-time. Southgate’s boys – and that is what the majority are, inexperienced youngsters – swaggered to victory.

Think about Iceland in 2016, Costa Rica in 2014, all three group games at the 2010 World Cup. Remind yourself how England usually fare against lesser sides and then forget any talk of it only being Panama.

The Belgium game was a non-event, really, as England’s second string deservedly lost to Belgium’s B side.

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The Colombia game may have gone to penalties, but it should never have got that far. England were dominant, comfortable almost, and like Tunisia, should have put the game to bed earlier.

And England should have lost the game once Yerry Mina scored an injury-time equaliser. We aren’t talking about the fact they had better chances in extra-time, but more the fact it’s England.

When it comes to big moments in tournaments England, for want of a better word, choke. They do not recover from blows like that.

But not this England side. These Lions stood up, put the extensive practice they had done on penalties to work and banished the hoodoo once and for all – hopefully. Where some of England’s greats had failed previously, the likes of Kieran Trippier, Eric Dier and Jordan Pickford stood up.

The most impressive performance of the lot was against Sweden in the quarter-final.

The build-up talked about England’s failure to get past a World Cup quarter-final since 1990, that Sweden were a better side without Zlatan Ibrahimovic and that they have a very good record against England in competitive football.

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Last Saturday afternoon, as the country came to a standstill and basked in 30 degree heat, England fans really started to believe.

They were dominant, composed and never looked like losing the game. England never looked back from Harry Maguire’s thumping header on the 30 minute mark. Pickford stepped up to the mark with a couple of smart saves, Dele Alli added a second and England saw the game out comfortably.

The pre-match nerves never properly festered themselves and suddenly, England were one game of football away from the second World Cup final in their history.

Even in the heartbreaking defeat to Croatia, these England players showed exactly why the country has fallen in love with them and back in love with the national side.

They came out and pressed Croatia, harried them when they were on the ball and the likes of Jesse Lingard, Alli and Jordan Henderson made Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic – two of the world’s best midfielders – incredibly uncomfortable.

Trippier, alongside Maguire as the unlikely hero of this World Cup, netted a quite brilliant free-kick with just five minutes of the semi-final gone. Dreamland.

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Eventually the Three Lions’ limitations showed and Croatia came out on top. That was not an unexpected result.

This was an England side though, that, perhaps, on paper, was nowhere near as strong as those in 2002 and 2006.

But it was also an England wide who came in with a fearless attitude, without inhibitions, with the whole country behind them and united as one.

History will show that England were knocked out of the 2018 World Cup by the first strong side they faced. Maybe that’s true, but it is an unfair and presumptuous conclusion.

Results show that they won four games and lost three – a not particularly impressive record. It does not tell the whole story.

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We saw Pickford come of age in goal, Trippier produce his best form on the world stage, Kyle Walker adapt to an unfamiliar role, Stones put in some monumental displays, Ashley Young completed a remarkable turnaround and Maguire establish himself as one of the breakout stars of the whole tournament.

Henderson proved the many doubters wrong and displayed tremendous leadership qualities, Alli and Lingard stepped up to the plate with important goals and Loftus-Cheek showed Chelsea should be using him regularly, not loaning him out.

Then there was Raheem Sterling, forever a player made out to be England’s scapegoat in the past two years, showing his worth. And finally, captain Kane netting six goals and proving that he is one of the best – if not the best – strikers in the world.

At the helm there was Southgate, an unfancied manager who got everything he could out of his squad. A man who left no stone unturned and got a side playing at more than the sum of their parts.

Going forward, England must be realistic and acknowledge that they are not one of the best four sides in the world. If they want to compete at Euro 2020 and Qatar 2022, there is a lot to be done.

But look back with pride and admiration for the way they conducted themselves.

Raise a glass to Southgate and his 23-man squad, for making the nation fall back in love with football again; for bringing it home.