England's World Cup campaign has come to an end, with the team signing off through a dramatic 6-4 victory over France in the third-place play-off. The result provided a memorable finish and ensured the tournament ended on a high-scoring note, but it did not change the wider feeling that the Three Lions missed out on the history they truly wanted.
The focus now shifts to player ratings and a broader assessment of England's performances across the competition. In any tournament review, attention naturally falls on the players who consistently delivered in big moments, as well as those who found it harder to make a lasting impact when the stakes were highest.
England's closing win over France offered one final reminder of the attacking quality within the squad. At the same time, the overall campaign appears likely to be judged by the gap between flashes of excellence and the ultimate outcome, with strong individual displays unable to carry the team all the way to its main objective.
As the tournament is assessed in full, the player ratings debate will center on who enhanced their reputation and who left questions unanswered. England showed enough quality to finish with a statement result, but the end of the World Cup still leaves a sense of what might have been.
