Rice: Best England team for a long time, that's a fact

Declan Rice has declared that this England squad is the best in a generation after they secured a bronze medal at the World Cup with a thrilling 6-4 victory over France. The result marks England's best finish since winning the tournament in 1966.

"This is the best England group for a very long time. That's a fact. No-one can take that away from us," said the stand-in captain. Despite criticism of Thomas Tuchel's tactics following a painful semi-final collapse against Argentina, Rice was quick to praise the team's efforts. "I think we can be proud as a group - we are just gutted we lost in that semi-final. We're tired of saying we're proud of coming in semi-finals and quarter-finals - we want to win with England ultimately. But to come third in this tournament is a real achievement."

Close but not close enough

Rice expressed confidence that England are on the verge of winning a major tournament. "We're so close, honestly. There's been so much talk about this group over the last few years going out of tournaments. There's been semi-final exits, quarter-finals, finals. I think we need to keep going. I do think it's close. It's a game of small margins. It's football and the other night we lost on margins and in the boxes."

Emotional scenes behind the bronze

The players showed visible delight as they collected their bronze medals on a podium in Miami, proudly parading them for travelling fans. However, behind the pride lay raw emotions, revealed by assistant manager Anthony Barry during a half-time interview with BBC One when England led 4-0. "There's no frustration. I'm a little bit emotional," said Barry, with tears in his eyes. "I can't find the words to describe how proud I am of these players. They're playing a game with broken hearts. I see 11 lads on the field with broken hearts. I've seen them in the hotel the last few days with broken hearts. And they can build a performance like that through pride of playing for England. The team spirit over the last seven weeks has been a privilege to watch. I know what the cynics will say - 'it's too late' - but we're still playing against a world-class opponent. And that 45 minutes, I'm so proud of the boys."

Tuchel's future and the gap to the top

Thomas Tuchel is expected to remain as manager for Euro 2028, co-hosted in England, despite backlash over his decisions against Argentina. The helter-skelter win over France aside, Tuchel must address England's inability to beat elite nations at major tournaments, a run stretching back to the 2002 victory over Argentina. "We have the ability to close it, but they have the ability to open it up again," he told the BBC. "Eight years ago, France were the champions. Four years ago, they were in the final. There is a slight gap, but no problem. We want to close it."

Regarding the semi-final loss, Tuchel insisted the damage is not terminal. "I don't think that we lost the trust. I don't think I lost the trust," he said. "Whatever happened in these 30 minutes against Argentina, or maybe 45 minutes in the second half against Argentina when we became too passive... whatever happened, why it happened, whatever happened in the last 10 minutes, we were close - but it's my job to take decisions. We are ferociously competitive, so we almost don't allow ourselves to be proud of third place because we set the highest goal. We set us the highest dream to chase, and we were very ambitious with our dream to make it to the final and win the World Cup, so it is very painful. If you miss out, the pain will stay for a while. Like I said yesterday, the scar will stay."