Croatia's fans react after a goal as they watch the broadcast of the World Cup semi-final match between Croatia and England in the fan zone. Germany then reached the semi-finals in their next five major tournaments - winning the World Cup in 2014 - before their shock group-stage exit in Russian Federation.
Both had already qualified for the round of 16 when Belgium beat England 1-0 in the last game of the group stage on Adnan Januzaj's curling shot in a game likened to a friendly thanks to 17 lineup changes. We had the belief that we could go all the way and you can never be sure if this kind of opportunity will come round again.
As Croatia now face France on Sunday to decide who is crowned world champion, England will have a second go at Belgium for the third-place play-offs this Saturday.
The Everton man is battling it out with Hugo Lloris, Thibaut Courtois and Danijel Subasic for the title of the World Cup's top goalkeeper.
Piers Morgan said: "OK, I've stopped wailing".
England fans spotted something worrying about Jamie Vardy's penalty celebrations last night
The celebrations, however, did not end in the field as Southgate and his boys took to social media to express their delight.
"We have a good opportunity to give them something back for 20 years ago when they reached the final", defender Dejan Lovren said after Croatia's 2-1 victory over England in the semifinals.
It meant another World Cup semifinal heartbreaker for England, only this time the game was under control before it was lost. It said: "The more I see, the more important it is that when 'attacking this tournament" we tell our own story. "We know there is more to come from this @England team. W".
Matt Reece, 25, who works in marketing, said England had far outperformed the low expectations of them when the tournament began. "We will see who wins, though it makes no difference to me".
In the past, there have been too many occasions when the people who make decisions have been reluctant to back our men, preferring to go for change: sack the manager, show him the door and in the process destroy what may have been a good, workable, possibly flawless, plan for long-term improvement and success.
All the players deserve praise, but the highlight for me was the performances of Harry Maguire, Jordan Pickford, John Stones, Kieran Trippier and Jordan Henderson. The technical nous of an indefatigable Croatian side ultimately proving too much for Gareth Southgate's fearless England. Well, I would sacrifice many things!
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