World Cup Verdict: An assessment of England’s 2018 World Cup campaign

Gareth Southgate’s England side have successfully managed to fix the disconnect between supporters and the national team this summer but will feel the 2018 World Cup was an opportunity missed after losing 2-1 to Croatia in the semi-finals on Wednesday night.

England will look back with regret after missing several golden opportunities to extend their 1-0 lead in the opening 45 minutes, before Croatia rallied back and prevailed in extra-time to secure a place in their first ever World Cup final.

After achieving above and beyond anyone’s wildest dreams at the 2018 World Cup, Southgate’s side can be immensely proud of their performances and the future certainly looks bright for the Three Lions.

WhoScored.com have looked back over the last four weeks and analysed what went right for England and where they can improve going into future major tournaments.  

1. Set-Piece Kings

With two games left to play, there have been 161 goals scored at the 2018 World Cup and 39% of them have been converted from deadball positions (63), with England emerging as the masters from set-pieces.

England set a personal record for goals scored in single World Cup campaign this summer (12), surpassing the achievement of the 1966-winning team. Of their 12 goals, however, nine of them were scored from set-pieces - a record in a single World Cup campaign since Portugal netted eight times in 1966.

Using Ashley Young and Kieran Trippier’s accuracy from corners and free-kicks, England utilised their physicality to make Harry Maguire one of the most lethals penalty box players at the tournament.

England were clever in the box, using blockers and decoy runners to trick their opposition and give Maguire free runs to attack the ball more often that not. This was best emphasised by his stunning headed goal against Sweden in the quarter-finals. If opponents weren’t able to mark England’s attackers, they ended up fouling them. England scored three penalties this summer, more than any other country. 

Croatia were the only side to work out England’s tactics from deadball positions but even that took them 45 minutes. It’s staggering that of all England players at the 2018 World Cup, only Raheem Sterling (22) managed more touches in the opposition penalty area than Maguire (20).

2. Lack of invention from open-play

While England’s threat from set-pieces proved the underlying theme of their tournament, their lack of creativity in open-play became more and more of a concern as the tournament developed.

England were capable of beating Tunisia, Sweden, Panama and Colombia almost exclusively from deadball areas, but came unstuck in the semi-finals against Croatia, who proved their first notable opponent of the tournament.

Despite only playing with one recognised central midfielder, England really struggled for invention in general play. Despite the fact England played three more matches than Germany, the 2014 champions remarkably created more goalscoring opportunities from open play (54) than Southgate’s side (38).

Jesse Lingard was full of energy and desire but ended up having the most shots for England (14), while Dele Alli looked unfit and completely off the pace for most of the summer. The latter has a good record in big matches but Southgate’s reliance on the Tottenham ace was perhaps more down to the fact neither Adam Lallana nor Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were available.

The fact that Maguire made as many key passes as Alli and Lingard combined (6) proves England never really got it right in the final third this summer. England were given the lion’s share of possession in most of their matches but only managed to score three goals from open play.

Once opportunities from set-pieces dried up against Croatia, Southgate’s side never looked like scoring. After opening the scoring in the fifth minute (from a free-kick), England only managed one more shot on target in the subsequent 115 minutes of action.

3. Dearth of technical central midfielders 

Jordan Henderson emerged as a real plus point for England at the 2018 World Cup but it ended on a flat note for the Liverpool captain. The 28-year-old generally struggled for England prior to the World Cup and Southgate’s decision to pick him over Eric Dier as the sole anchor in midfield raised eyebrows at the start of the tournament.

Henderson would eventually vindicate Southgate’s decision but England’s semi-final defeat to Croatia just emphasised what the Three Lions are missing in order to go from underdogs to serious contenders. Luka Modric wasn’t even at his best against England but still summoned moments of brilliance when required.

Modric will earn a well-deserved break regardless of the outcome of Sunday’s World Cup final but the Real Madrid star is the type of midfield England are crying out for. Henderson and Dier are capable of performing as England’s anchoring midfielder but neither are likely to control the game to the point where England are constantly moving forward.

There were too many occasions, particularly against Croatia, where a member of the back three, whether John Stones or Kyle Walker, had possession and were forced to pass back to Jordan Pickford as there was no England team-mate in front of them for 20 yards. Henderson should have been more readily available but was unable to perform that role. Tottenham's Harry Winks is one to keep an eye on in the future for this sort of role.

4. Harry Kane’s struggles epitomise bonkers tournament

It’s strange to think that Harry Kane will more than likely finish the 2018 World Cup with the Golden Shoe. Kane has scored six goals and the nearest rival still in the tournament has four. It suggests the England captain has been firing on all cylinders but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Three of Kane’s six goals have come from the penalty spot and his third against Panama was a Ruben Loftus-Cheek drive that deflected wickedly off his heel.

England generally failed to get Kane into the game during the groups and then the Tottenham striker struggled to get moving at all in the knockout phase. The 24-year-old was brilliant in picking up possession and winning fouls from which England could utilise their set-piece threat, but you have to wonder if those fouls took their toll on Kane.

Only three players have been fouled more times than Kane (18) at the 2018 World Cup and some of those have been heavy ones. As the games ticked by, Kane’s positioning became more and more curious. At some stages against Sweden and Croatia Kane was almost playing as a central midfielder. It’s unclear whether Kane dropping deep was a tactical move, allowing the likes of Sterling and Lingard to run off him, or whether he has been carrying an injury in the last few games preventing him from joining up in attack. Either way, it really hindered England.

When you consider three of the 18 touches Kane had in the opposition box were penalties, the England captain actually had as many involvements in the box as Belgium’s Michy Batshuayi, who has played 370 fewer minutes.

5. The emergence of Kieran Trippier

One of the refreshing aspects of Gareth Southgate’s tenure is his tendency to be bold. It would have been easy to stick with Chris Smalling or Gary Cahill, but he placed his faith in Harry Maguire. Few England managers would have been brave enough to follow in Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City blueprint and select a midfield with only one defensive-minded player, but Southgate choose to. No one even considered Kyle Walker an option as a third centre-back, but Southgate did.

Southgate will have to take criticism for the fact England didn't change system once in the last 60 minutes against Croatia to least pose new problems, but the 47-year-old has introduced some new principles to the national team that should benefit them going forward. Other than the performances of Jordan Pickford, Harry Maguire and John Stones, Kieran Trippier has been a real revelation for the Three Lions this summer.

The 27-year-old is England’s highest WhoScored rated player at the 2018 World Cup (8.10), reflecting his importance to their success this season. Trippier is renowned for his David Beckham-like right-foot and some of his deliveries from set-pieces and in open play would have made his idol proud.

In fact, only Neymar (23) has created more goalscoring opportunities than Trippier (17) at the 2018 World Cup. Not only that, but by scoring England’s only goal against Croatia, the Tottenham ace has joined an exclusive club including Sir Bobby Charlton and Gary Lineker as England goalscorers in a World Cup semi-final. England’s players showed flashes of really quality this summer, but none more so than Trippier.