England’s dream of making it to the finale of the World Cup final ended after the defeat against Croatia in the semi-final in Russia. But their tournament isn’t over yet, as they will face Belgium on Saturday for the third place.
Southgate’s men will take on Belgium in the third-place play-off.
Southgate will resist making wholesale changes for the clash. He aims to achieve England’s most successful World Cup since 1966. The entire 23-man squad trained on the eve of their last outing in Russia. Kieran Trippier, who limped out of Wednesday’s match also got included.
Manager Southgate admitted the heartache of that result has made for a “really difficult” few days.
And while the tournament’s penultimate match is often regarded as less a competitive contest, he is determined not to treat the occasion lightly.
“We feel we owe it as much to ourselves as our public and our nation, I think, now. We want to finish the tournament well. My side set a standard in how we work. And, also a standard in the way we play. We want to aspire to that level every time we go out and every time we train.”
“It’s not going to be exactly the same starting XI, but ideally we want to make as few changes as possible. With one or two injuries, one or two with illness, we’ll just have to see,” he added.
Despite the defeat, Southgate believes the team has the motivation to perform.
“But we have high motivation to perform; we have the chance to win a medal at a World Cup, which only one other England team has ever done. So there’s a lot of motivation for us, and of course, Belgium have beaten us once already, and we would like to address that as well.”
The third place play-off between England and Belgium will take place at the Saint Petersburg.