10 Reasons For England Fans To Be Optimistic After World Cup 2018

While some teams, like Croatia or Belgium, saw this World Cup as the 'last chance saloon' for many of their players, England's squad has time on its side. Seven of Gareth Southgate's regular first eleven are aged 25 or younger (Pickford, Stones, Maguire, Lingard, Sterling, Alli, and Kane).

This means that many of England's best performers at this World Cup are going to be hitting their peak years by the time the next World Cup rolls around. Meanwhile, plenty of the kids from the youth teamss will also be knocking on the door and breaking through into the squad.

There's going to be a lot of competition for places over the next few years, forcing each player to work even harder to keep his spot. And by the time the next World Cup comes along, it's easy to imagine an England squad with a nice mixture of experienced players left over from the current side and some exciting youngsters ready to make their mark on the tournament. Any way you look at it, the future is bright for the Three Lions.