Playing in their first World Cup semi-final for 28 years, England blew a golden opportunity to reach their first final since 1966, surrendering a 1-0 half-time lead to lose 2-1 to Croatia after extra-time in Moscow on Wednesday. The tournament's top goalscorer with six goals, Kane himself missed a huge chance to give England breathing space in the first half. But he believes even brighter days lie ahead for the third-youngest squad on show in Russia.

"It hurts now but I know when we look back there are a lot of positives, (a lot of) experience we can take. That's the aim, in two years' time in the Euros to go again and win big tournaments," said the Tottenham Hotspur striker. "We've shown we can do well in these tournaments and the aim is now not to wait another 20-odd years to get to another big semi-final. It's to go again and try to achieve our dreams." In their run to the last four, England re-engaged with a fanbase disaffected by decades of failure at international tournaments, most notably in a humiliating exit to Iceland at Euro 2016.