Southgate will not rush England decision as family Christmas break beckons

Gareth Southgate is not planning to rush into a decision about his England future before Christmas, insisting he has "few regrets" about the Three Lions' World Cup campaign.

Southgate's team suffered a heartbreaking quarter-final exit against world champions France on Saturday, with Harry Kane missing a late penalty after scoring an earlier spot-kick.

The England boss said he would take time to ensure he made "the correct decision" on his own future in the aftermath of the 2-1 defeat, with his contract set to expire after Euro 2024.

He then hinted an immediate decision was unlikely in an interview with England's media channels on Sunday, adding he was struggling to see where the Three Lions went wrong.

There will be standard debriefing sessions with the Football Association in the coming days, and then Southgate is planning some family time over the Christmas holiday.

"We've not been in this position before when we're coming up to Christmas, but we will reflect and debrief on the games but also the whole camp," Southgate said.

"At the moment, it's hard to think of things we could've done better. There might be bits and pieces, things which you'll take forward to further tournaments, so that's a process that we'll go through.

"Then I'll have Christmas with my family and we'll go from there."

England earned praise from some quarters for their front-foot performances in Qatar, and the Three Lions' tally of 13 goals at the competition represents their highest total at either the World Cup or European Championship.

Keep your head held high, skipper. We're proud of you pic.twitter.com/oEVyhcvWZ5

— England (@England) December 10, 2022

Despite seeing England's agonising wait for major tournament glory in the men's game continue, Southgate insisted he did not regret many aspects of the team's campaign.

"It's a really strange feeling because the end of a tournament is so stark. Everyone is packing everything up, after going through years of preparation and then months of tighter preparation," Southgate said.

"There's also the feeling that we've come so close and the performance, we were happy with. We felt we could've gone on and done more but yet, I really have few regrets about the whole thing, so emotionally it's a rollercoaster."

Asked about the mood of his players, Southgate added: "They're flat. They know they've played well.

"You know when you don't hit the levels that you feel you should, and they know that they have throughout this tournament.

"If I think back to Colombia [in the last 16 at the World Cup] four years ago, the tension in the team and in all of us at getting over the line, it affects performance.

"I think we saw in the two knockout games this time, that's what that experience brings. They have more belief, they have more confidence, and you can't fast-track that.

"They've got to live through that and we've now got a group of very young players with that big-game experience already, and the core of a group who can be together for a long time."