England captain Harry Kane says he is “heartbroken” at their Euro 2024 final defeat by Spain on Sunday night as the team fly home from the tournament in Germany.
For the second European Championship in a row England fell short by the finest of margins, losing 2-1 to Mikel Oyarzabal’s winning goal four minutes from time.
“Heartbroken we couldn’t achieve what we worked so hard to. It was a long, tough tournament and I’m so proud of the boys and staff for getting to the final,” Kane wrote on social media.
“Ultimately, we fell short of our target and will have to live with that but as we always do we will pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and be ready to fight again in an England shirt.
“Thank you to all the fans that believed in us and supported us to the very end!”
England were applauded by fans outside their Berlin as they departed on Monday morning. They were due to fly back into a private terminal at London Stansted Airport.
Manager Gareth Southgate has vowed to take time to consider his future in the wake of the defeat, with opinion split among football figures over whether he should stay or go.
Former England captain John Terry and 1966 World Cup hero Sir Geoff Hurst are among those in favour of Southgate leading the team for at least another two years.
“I’m sure there will be offers for Gareth in the Premier League or around the world but I think he believes there’s a trophy to win with this group of players,” Terry told Good Morning Britain.
“I really hope he stays because he’s been fantastic.”
Hurst said he was “bitterly disappointed” at losing the final but pointed to England’s strong record at major tournaments under the current manager.
“You’ve got to look at it overall – two Euros finals, semi-finals of a World Cup. Under Gareth Southgate, it’s been absolutely fantastic,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Former England manager Sam Allardyce criticised the failure to find the right tactics for the squad and said Southgate may have had enough after eight years in the job.
“We seemed to not be able to find the right system for the talent pool we had, which is very difficult when you’ve got so much talent,” Allardyce added on GMB.
“It was a little disappointing but overall Spain were the better side. The other matches where the opposition weren’t as good as we were, you could maybe criticise a bit more about our attacking play.”