England coach Gareth Southgate excused his players for their World Cup defeat to Belgium.

England were beaten 2-0 by Belgium in the play-off for third place – their second defeat of the tournament by Roberto Martinez' stars and third in total.

“I'm incredibly proud of what the players have done. Today was always going to be a really difficult game," he said.

“We played one of the best teams in the world with some exceptional individual talent, with two days to prepare. Belgium are far ahead of us in terms of their development as a group. It's probably their best team ever. We're not at that stage just yet.

“We've finished in the final four, but we're not a top four team yet, we know that – we are realistic. Against the very best teams, we've come up short.

“We managed to get the players in the right frame of mind today. Their attitude was outstanding.

“Physically, it took them a while to get going because we've not trained between the two games. But they never stopped. They kept pushing forward until the end.

“We haven't quite produced the moments of quality around the opposition's penalty area enough in this tournament, but I couldn't ask more of these players. We've had a wonderful adventure and some experiences which will stand this group of players and staff in good stead for the future.

“I couldn't ask any more from the players through the seven weeks we have been together."