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England must now show they can beat the elite after World Cup progress

Close encounter: Eden Hazard holds off John Stones during the third place play-off: AP
Close encounter: Eden Hazard holds off John Stones during the third place play-off: AP

Neither of England’s World Cup defeats to Belgium bore much resemblance to a competitive match yet Saturday’s play-off loss still underlines one of the key tasks facing Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2020.

The FA adopted an unofficial policy during Roy Hodgson’s era of organising regular high-profile friendlies in order to test England against elite-level opposition in an effort to improve a dismal tournament record.

England’s run to the semi-finals in Russia was aided by a favourable knockout stage draw but, as Southgate rightly pointed out, they have failed to capitalise in similar situations previously and so to do it here with a young squad is a hugely encouraging sign.

If the real progress for England this summer was to play with greater conviction and purpose against the world’s lesser lights then, assuming they do not retreat into their shell over the coming months, Southgate’s principal challenge is to repeat this against better opponents. Nobody expected England to play seven matches at this World Cup and that in itself is a remarkable achievement. However, as the FA begin their internal review into the team’s performance this week, the harsh reality is that they were beaten three times by the best two sides they faced.

England’s defeat by Croatia was a marginal reverse suffered in extra-time after failing to capitalise on a fine first-half display. The two matches against Belgium were somewhat dull affairs, one taking place in the group stage with the serious stuff yet to come and the other in the shadow of what had gone before.

They were, in effect, more akin to those friendly matches the FA have identified as markers to gauge the team’s progress — and two more bad results extends a poor record which chimes with Southgate’s assertion that England may finish this World Cup in fourth place but they are “not a top four side”.

FIFA’s world rankings are updated on Thursday and England will climb from their current position of tied 12th with Denmark. They are only a broad guideline given the convoluted mathematics involved and how, for example, Switzerland have shown the system can be manipulated by playing the right kind of friendlies to ensure an artificial position, sitting as they do in sixth.

Yet as a rough barometer of England’s success against teams regularly qualifying and competing for football’s biggest prizes, it throws up concerning numbers. Since the 2010 World Cup, England have played 40 matches against teams currently ranked in FIFA’s top 20. They won only 16. Against FIFA’s top 10, the record is 10 victories from 24 games during the same period. The majority of these matches were friendlies but it points to a trend which highlights where England stand.

It is now 14 years since England last beat a current top-20 side in tournament football, at the Euro 2004 group stage when Wayne Rooney put Switzerland and then Croatia to the sword.

Now England must prove themselves again, as they will be thrown into the spotlight in the inaugural Uefa Nations League, with matches against Spain and World Cup runners-up Croatia either side of a friendly against Switzerland.

Their run must inspire Premier League clubs to take more chances on young English players and it would help the cause were a midfield playmaker to emerge in the next two years — Harry Winks, Jack Wilshere or Phil Foden, a youngster of whom much is hoped, are among those who must take their game to another level.

“The talent will be the talent,” Southgate said. “We have to improve the team when they are with us, give them experiences and work with them to work on their game intelligence. Some of it just has to come through matches like we’ve had in the past seven weeks. That is better for their development than anything we can do on the training pitch.

“What we’ve done over the past year is make decisions that have been right for winning in the short-term but also mid- and long-term development. Whatever happens and whoever is in charge in four, six or eight years’ time, we have to keep doing that. It can’t just be that I pick a group of players to get a result today. We’ve got to keep trying to develop, invest in younger players, try things in the games in the autumn. They are going to be brilliant challenges for us and it is the only way we can look to improve.”

High-profile friendlies meet the criteria of attracting a crowd for a marquee match but also giving this young group a taste of the level they need to reach.

After a glorious summer in which the nation is proud of its team again, these games provide a reminder of the distance left to travel.