The way England’s run at this World Cup ended was desperately disappointing, but there are still plenty of positives for them to take away from the tournament.
I’ve co-commentated on all of their games and my most memorable moment has to be their epic win over Mexico at the Azteca Stadium in the last 16. It was the best game of the tournament, at the best stadium and with the best atmosphere.
I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed togetherness or team spirit like that before, either. That’s why I described it as the best team performance I’ve seen from any England side in my lifetime, particularly away from home. It made me think anything was possible from this team.
Overall, the players can be very proud of all their efforts because they got through lots of tough situations. When they did fall short, it was not for the want of trying either.
What next from England? Well, Tuchel is going to lead pretty much the same group of players into next year’s Euro qualifiers – but I’d expect three or four changes to his next squad, because this one lacked balance and it was not the one I would have chosen.
One area of concern is the centre-forward position because Harry Kane turns 33 in a couple of weeks and I would ask where are our strikers who are screaming to replace him.
But, overall, I don’t look at the players Tuchel has available and think they are far away from what we will need.
Whatever happens in Saturday’s third-place play-off – which is a nonsense by the way – England will end this World Cup the same way they seem to finish every major tournament.
By that, I mean they will look back with frustration, and look ahead with the same hope that things will be different next time.
Tuchel should believe it too, because so much of Euro 2028 will be played on home soil and we saw how close we went when we last hosted matches in 2021, reaching the final – like we did two years ago.
There I go again, though, dreaming of glory. That won’t change until we finally get over the line – and all we really know for certain is we will be back to try again.
Alan Shearer was speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan
