England

The game that shaped England's tournament was the one they lost.

England were losing in 2 of their knockout games at this World Cup and won them both.

This time Argentina got the late goals, and England went out 2-1 in Atlanta.

The first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium finished 0-0, and neither team could break through.

Their forward Anthony Gordon, who plays for Newcastle United, put England 1-0 up in the 55th minute.

And England managed to hold that lead all the way to the 85th minute.

Then it went wrong, fast.

Argentina's midfielder Enzo Fernandez scored from a long way out in the 85th minute to make it 1-1.

And in the 92nd minute their forward Lautaro Martinez scored with a header to win it 2-1.

Lionel Messi did not score either goal.

But he set up both of them, and that was the difference between the 2 teams.

So England still have not reached a World Cup final since 1966.

That is the part that will take a while to accept.

It is a shame, because they fought hard to get that far.

It started well in Group L for them, with a 4-2 win over Croatia, then a 0-0 draw with Ghana, and a 2-0 win over Panama to finish at the top of the group.

Then came the scares.

In the round of 32 they were losing 1-0 to DR Congo and heading out.

But their captain and striker Harry Kane rescued them with 2 late goals to win it 2-1.

The round of 16 was even wilder, thanks to a 3-2 win at Mexico's Azteca stadium in front of a huge Mexican crowd.

Their midfielder Jude Bellingham scored twice to put England 2-0 up and stun the stadium.

But then it got hard.

Their defender Jarell Quansah was shown a red card in the 54th minute, so England had to play more than half an hour with only 10 men.

Both Kane for England and Raul Jimenez for Mexico scored penalties, and it stayed a tense 3-2.

That is when their goalkeeper Jordan Pickford took over, with save after save to protect the lead.

In the quarter-final Norway led 1-0, but Jude Bellingham scored twice to win it 2-1 and send England into the semi-final.

So they survived game after game, and their German coach Thomas Tuchel deserves real credit for that.

He was ruthless all tournament and never afraid to drop a big name for the good of the team.

This time, though, there was nobody left to rescue them.

That left one game to play, and most players will tell you it is the game nobody wants to be in.

You only reach the 3rd-place playoff by losing a semi-final 3 days earlier.

England played it like it mattered anyway.

By half-time against France at Hard Rock Stadium they were winning 4-0.

Midfielder Declan Rice scored inside 3 minutes, defender Ezri Konsa doubled it, and Saka got the other 2.

Then France scored 3 times in 18 minutes and it was suddenly 4-3.

Saka answered from the penalty spot in the 87th minute to complete his hat-trick.

France scored again in stoppage time through Ousmane Dembele, and Bellingham made it 6-4 at the end.

That is 10 goals in a single World Cup game.

No World Cup match had produced that many since 1982, and no 3rd-place playoff ever had.

So England leave with a bronze medal, and nobody will forget how they won it.

Ask any England fan and they will tell you they wanted the final, not this.

But 3rd in the world still counts, and this group of players earned that medal the hard way.