Gareth Southgate remains positive despite Belgium defeat as he believes England overachieved at World Cup

GARETH SOUTHGATE remains positive about his Three Lions squad despite defeat to Belgium in the third-place play-off.

The 47-year-old believes England overachieved at the World Cup and are 'nowhere near' their peak.

England had to settle for finishing fourth in the World Cup after goals from Thomas Meunier and Eden Hazard ended in a 2-0 defeat in St Petersburg.

Southgate feels that his players showed plenty of positive signs during the tournament and now expects to build on from that.

Speaking to ITV Sport Southgate said: "We are competitive in every game. We've overcome a lot of landmarks that we needed to."

"To finish in the top four is probably above where we are currently."

"Huge credit to the players because they deserve every bit of praise that they get when they go back."

"You look at the number of caps the Belgium players have and at the age of the squad; they're at their peak, this was really their big tournament."

"We're nowhere near our peak yet, we've known that right the way through."

England were unable to bounce back this afternoon as Thomas Meunier put Belgium ahead after just four minutes.

Despite chances from Eric Dier and Harry Maguire, England failed to make it level in the second half.

Eden Hazard wrapped it up for Belgium with eight minutes left when he got the better of Phil Jones to beat Jordan Pickford.

Southgate admitted the better team won and believes Belgium may still have regrets over their semi-final loss to France.

"I think they're a better side than us. The reality is we've had a day less to prepare and recover and I think it was just a game too far for us."

"They are a top team and great credit to them, they'll probably be thinking they should have gone further than they did.

'From my point of view, our players have given absolutely everything right the way to the final whistle."

Captain Harry Kane failed to score but it still on course o win the golden boot having hit six goals earlier in the tournament.

"The lads couldn't have given any more, it's been a tough tournament, Belgium are obviously a good team,' said the 24-year-old."

"We've closed it (the gap to the top teams) but this shows there's still room for improvement. We're not the finished article yet, we're still learning, we're still getting better. This is the level we've got to try and stay at now."