England have been the very best group at this 12 months’s World Cup, Jamie Carragher has claimed, regardless of their despair at a quarter-final exit to France.
Aurelien Tchouameni’s first-half aim gave France the sting, however Harry Kane’s penalty levelled the scores. Olivier Giroud’s header put Les Bleus in entrance once more to seal a semi-final spot for the reigning champions.
Gareth Southgate’s squad had an excellent likelihood to equalise for a second time on the Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday, however Kane’s second penalty of the night time went excessive over Hugo Lloris’s bar.
England have been the very best group on the World Cup, based on former participant Jamie Carragher
Carragher felt England have been undone by ‘moments’ within the sport which sealed France’s 2-1 win
It felt like a continuation of England’s hard-luck tales within the males’s sport, relationship again over half a century since their World Cup glory in 1966.
Carragher informed The Telegraph: ‘There can be a pure temptation… to put Gareth Southgate’s facet alongside these of Bobby Robson’s in Italia ’90 and Terry Venables in Euro ‘96 as gallant losers.
‘Let’s have none of that. The most important praise I pays Southgate’s facet is that they don’t belong with such firm.
‘This England group was no underdog going toe-to-toe with the world champions.
He mentioned England’s squad with Jordan Henderson and Jude Bellingham weren’t ‘gallant losers’
‘This England group leaves the event having performed higher than any facet in Qatar over their 5 video games, a real contender that would and arguably ought to have gone all the way in which.’
The ex-Liverpool defender mentioned that on reflection, there have been a number of issues that dictated Saturday’s consequence, which may simply have modified the result.
The 44-year-old wrote: ‘France received on the night time due to moments – a surprising aim from distance and a cross from Antoine Griezmann that might have troubled any defence on the planet.
‘Then England missed a penalty, realizing that had Harry Kane equalised for a second time it might have carried optimistic momentum into extra-time.’
If Harry Kane had scored his second penalty, Carragher felt the momentum was with England
While Carragher believes France have been the very best group in Russia in 2018, and victors Italy have been the very best group at Euro 2020, he noticed sufficient from England to imagine they have been the very best group in Qatar.
Nonetheless, he questioned Southgate’s tactical adjustments in the course of the France defeat, stating: ‘It’s tough to shrug off the sensation that the ability England possessed within the squad was not absolutely utilised when the second of fact arrived.’
He mentioned that as a optimistic, the core of Southgate’s younger squad can be in line to take England to the Euros in two years time, rounding off his ideas: ‘Roll on Germany in 2024’.
Qualifiers for the European Championships begin with England’s subsequent worldwide matches in March towards Italy and Ukraine.
Bellingham can be among the many gamers Carragher is trying ahead to seeing at Germany 2024
