Five reasons to be cheerful despite England's World Cup exit

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, England's 3-2 victory over Mexico at the Azteca was one of the nation's tournament highlights By Katharine Sharpe BBC Sport senior journalist Published 17 July 2026, 14:45 BST Updated 6 minutes ago There is no sugar-coating a semi-final loss to footballing rivals in a World Cup. It hurts. Compound that with so many 'nearlies' in recent tournaments - back-to-back European final losses in 2021 and 2024, and another World Cup semi-final exit in 2018. Then if you add the manner in which England lost their grasp on a place in this final, it might seem difficult to find many reasons for positivity. But it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom - we've found some reasons to be cheerful. Kane and Bellingham's goalscoring prowess Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Kane and Bellingham have scored 12 goals between them this World Cup To have a squad containing not one but two Golden Boot contenders is no mean feat in a World Cup. It's perhaps not surprising that Harry Kane - who came in to the 2026 World Cup after averaging a goal every 66 minutes for Bayern Munich this season - quickly put himself in contention to be the competition's top scorer. He picked up two goals in the opening game against Croatia, followed by four more as England progressed through the tournament. Jude Bellingham was possibly a less likely candidate, having had a relatively quiet season at Real Madrid compared to his previous two after recovering from a shoulder operation . However, Bellingham finds himself equal with Kane's tally of six goals ahead of the third-place play-off, during which either player could clinch the tournament's Golden Boot should they better or equal current joint-top leaders Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi's total of eight. Both players came to England's rescue when it was needed most - Kane's brace against DR Congo preventing a humiliating round of 32 exit, and Bellingham's double against Norway sealing their place in the semi-finals. While Kane has not committed to featuring at the 2030 World Cup , we should get at least one more outing for the goalscoring pair together at the 2028 Euros. Reaching yet another semi-final Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Reaching the semi-final of a major tournament has almost become an expectation for England - until very recently, that was not the case While the aforementioned exits late in the World Cup and Euros may be painful to remember, they are still a sign of immense progress for England's tournament progression. Prior to the 2018 World Cup semi-final, England had not gone further than the tournament's quarter-finals since Italy 1990. And until their 2020 Euros final loss to Italy, they had only ever reached as far as the quarter-finals since their 1996 semi-final loss to Germany. The lack of silverware is still apparent - but to reach either a semi-final or final in four of the last five major tournaments is a huge upturn in form. England have shown they can p