England have landed back in the United Kingdom after their crushing World Cup exit at the hands of France on Saturday.
The Three Lions flew back to Birmingham from Doha on Sunday afternoon following their 2-1 defeat against France in Al Khor. Harry Kane brought England level from the penalty spot after Aurelien Tchouameni's opener for Les Bleus, but Olivier Giroud restored France's lead in the 78th minute.
Gareth Southgate's side were handed an excellent opportunity to equalise late on from the spot, but Kane was unable to repeat the trick late on as he put his second penalty over the bar. The Tottenham striker was distraught after the final whistle and was surrounded by his teammates who consoled him.
It was a painful evening for the England squad and they began their travels back to the UK on Sunday morning, with Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden amongst the first to leave their hotel in Doha. Jude Bellingham took time to sign shirts and autographs with supporters outside the hotel, while James Maddison was spotted waving to fans before hopping onto the team bus.
After a seven-hour flight from Qatar, England arrived at Birmingham Airport. It has proven to be a major change in climate for the players, who were baking in 25c heat on Saturday morning but have come back to temperatures just below freezing in the West Midlands - with it set to get to drop to -3c overnight.
With the Premier League campaign set to get back underway on Boxing Day, some of the team have elected to join up with their families for holidays or warm-weather training with their clubs, while the rest of the squad have come back to the UK. Trent Alexander-Arnold departed the hotel in a Qatar 2022 vehicle, with Liverpool in Dubai on a midseason training camp.
As the dust settles on an agonising result, Southgate provided a fresh reaction to the game in an interview on Sunday morning. The England boss discuss a number of different topics, including his immediate feelings after the tournament. He also had words of wisdom for those who didn't feature as much as they would've liked.
"It is a strange feeling because the end of the tournament is so stark, you're with us and everyone is packing everything up," Southgate told England's social media channels. "There's the feeling that we were so close and I was so happy with the level of performance. There's disappointment we could've done more, but I have no regrets. Emotionally, it was a rollercoaster.
"They (the team) are flat, they know they played well. Of course, it feels so binary winning and losing, but when you're coaching a team, you've got to take a different view to that. The way they've progressed, the way they've developed individually, the challenges they've came through as a group.
"The group of players that haven't necessarily started as many games as they may have wanted to have been phenomenal. Sometimes, people talk about that and think we do that to keep people happy but it's the reality of what we have here. We've got a lot of young players with a lot of big-match experience already and the core of a group that can be together for a long while."
Meanwhile, Maguire delivered his verdict to the defeat as England bowed out of the tournament in the last eight. "Big decisions went against us, a lot of decisions went against us, should I say," he said, after England felt there was a foul on Bukayo Saka in the build-up to France's opener.
"We fought, we kept going, kept pushing, we created chance after chance and they’ve been clinical in two moments and that’s why they’re the world champions, and I’ll probably say that’s why they’re favourites for the tournament.
"I think the referee’s decision-making throughout the game was really poor. We always stand here and as players we get criticised – so it would be nice to see if he comes out and says whether he’s had a good game or not."
