Delph: 'England will rue semi-final defeat forever'

Gareth Southgate's side successfully reformed the bond between the national team and the fans as they reached the semi-finals in Russia, only to go down 2-1 to Croatia after extra time.

The 2-0 defeat to Belgium on Saturday meant England missed out on third place and whilst Delph was proud of his efforts, he insisted the Croatia loss would haunt him in the years to come.

"On a group level we can go home proud of ourselves but I think we will kick ourselves in those quiet moments," he told 'ITV'. 

"We had a great chance to reach the final and we came up short. Not just in the near future, I think for the rest of our lives we will be kicking ourselves thinking we had a real opportunity there."

Nevertheless, Delph did admit that there was plenty to build on in the future.

"We have had a fantastic camp and I think we have got something to build from for these next four years," he continued.

"Finishing the tournament with a loss there (on Saturday) didn’t go down well for us. We played a very good team today who were able to take their chances."