Shearer says: “England have a manager and team to be proud of.”

Three Lions legend reflects on World Cup journey

We have to be brave enough to say Croatia were the better team and deserved to go through.

They had a little genius in midfield in Luka Modric, he’s arguably the best in the world in that position. We could not get near him all night and he controlled the game at the pace he wanted to play. Everything he did was superb.

We started the game very well and played well for the first 45 minutes. We got the early goal and we were on the front foot at that point.

Croatia stepped up the pace in the second half. They got everyone 10 yards further up the pitch which allowed Modric to dictate the game.

We are not the first team he has done that to and we won’t be the last.

Kane had a couple of good chances to extend our lead. He went through one-on-one and he wasn’t offside. If we had gone 2-0 up, it would have been a completely different game.

They had a number of chances in the second half though where they hit the post. Ultimately, we did not play well enough to go through to the final.

It has been a great ride. Everyone has loved every minute of it. When you look back at where we were two years ago, we were the laughing stock of European football. We had no system and were embarrassed by Iceland.

We now have a manager and team we can be proud of. There is a clear identity and we have all enjoyed watching them. We have far exceeded expectation and they have managed to unite the country.

The experience is going to do them the world of good. I said at the start of this tournament, if this England team gives every ounce of sweat, blood and guts, the country will be happy with that and that is what they have done.