During an underwhelming evening in Russia, in a game no team particularly wanted to win, a disjointed performance saw England miss out on qualifying from World Cup Group G in pole position.

That honour instead goes to Belgium, which Roberto Martinez will no doubt accept begrudgingly based on his pre-match comments, after Gareth Southgate made wholesale changes to the starting XI that so easily dispensed of Panama last time out.

Neither side showed much quality until former Manchester United youngster Adnan Januzaj creamed a beautiful curler beyond the reach of Jordan Pickford on the 51st minute.

England attempted to respond during one of the rare instances in which the second-choice forward line of Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford managed to combine – the former playing in the latter, only for the Red Devils youngster to have his one-on-one saved by Thibaut Courtois.

Some stand-ins did impress, however. Liverpool teenager Trent Alexander-Arnold gave a good account of himself at right wing-back, creating two scoring chances before a 79th minute substitution, and Tottenham’s Danny Rose remained busy on the opposite flank. Chelsea youngster Ruben Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, continued to show glimpses of his enormous potential.

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Late on, substitute Danny Welbeck attempted to stab home a loose ball from a corner, only for Marouane Fellaini to stretch out one of his impassable legs and divert the effort safely behind. Dries Mertens almost extended Belgium’s lead soon after but unlike Januzaj’s effort, Pickford just about managed to get a glove to it.

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All in all though, it was a night that really took the sting out of England’s thrilling start to the World Cup, and the Three Lions now face the daunting challenge of Colombia in the first knockout round on Tuesday.

So, England fans, who was your Man of the Match from the 1-0 defeat? Let us know by taking part below and giving each player an individual performance rating out of ten…