England have to settle for fourth after defeat to Belgium
Belgium beat England 2-0 in the World Cup third-place playoff to secure their best ever finish at a World Cup.
It sent Gareth Southgate's side home with a second straight loss.
A fourth-minute goal from Thomas Meunier and an 82nd-minute Eden Hazard strike earned Belgium the victory and third place, which improved on their previous best performance of fourth in 1986.
"It’s all about that achievement. I think these players deserve that," Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said.
"What we have seen in this World Cup is that the players did not want to rely on talent anymore, they wanted to rely on working as a team, becoming a group of players that would do anything to achieve results".
England were on top for most of the second half but with captain Harry Kane looking tired, Belgium's greater sharpness in the final third proved decisive.
"This game showed there is still room for improvement," said Kane.
"We're not the finished article, we're still improving and will only get better. We don't want to wait another 20 years to get into the semi-finals and the big matches. We need to improve, we need to get better but that will come," he said.
Two tired and disappointed teams playing in heat with the crowd dominated by neutral Russian fans was never going to be a recipe for a thriller but Belgium made a flying start.
They scored when Romelu Lukaku swung the ball out left to Nacer Chadli who burst down the wing and slipped the ball across the face of the goal and Meunier confidently slotted past Jordan Pickford.
Meunier was Belgium's 10th different goalscorer at this World Cup - equalling the record set by France in 1982 and Italy in 2006.
While England manager Gareth Southgate made five changes to the side who lost to Croatia, Martinez made just two switches.
Meunier returned from suspension and Youri Tielemans got a start ahead of Marouane Fellaini in midfield with the Belgians fielding their strong front three of Lukaku, Kevin de Bruyne and Eden Hazard.
De Bruyne should have made it 2-0 when the ball found him at the back post after a slip-up from John Stones, but his poorly struck shot was easily dealt with by Pickford.
Kane, the tournament's top scorer with six goals, had an opportunity when set up by Raheem Sterling but was off-balance as he screwed his shot wide.
Published: by Radio NewsHub