Harry Kane’s ‘worried’ conversation with Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2024 revealed after England ace shocked by decision

It will take me and all England fans a while to recover, writes Jack Wilshere.

To have come so close to winning this trophy, only to be beaten in a second consecutive Euro final, is a huge disappointment.

Especially when it really felt like it was our time.

It seemed like everything was coming together for us to end the long wait for a major title.

But Spain deserved it. They were the best team in the final and the best team in the tournament.

We will all have to move on – fans, players, managers, the FA – start again from scratch.

Because English football is still in a good position.

Gareth Southgate has taken us to two finals, a semi-final and a quarter-final in four tournaments. We’ve never been on a run like this before.

The challenge now is to maintain this level of competitiveness and make England even better.

Southgate and his team have done a fantastic job of completely changing the environment and narrative around the national team.

Whether Gareth continues or not, the general culture he has established must be preserved.

This tournament was the biggest test of that culture the team has had to go through.

They overcame the challenges and made it all the way, only to fail at the final hurdle.

But there is every reason to believe we can compete at the World Cup in 2026 and beyond.

We have a very good group of players, many of them young, who can continue to play and perform for England for years to come.

Jude Bellingham, Kobbie Mainoo, Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Cole Palmer – to name just five – have many other tournaments to their name.

This tournament will also be an inspiration for the next generations of players. Unfortunately, there will be no trophy to move to a completely different level.

But England gave Germany some unforgettable moments.

Bellingham’s overhead kick and Ollie Watkins’ winning goal in the semi-final will be recreated in playgrounds and goalposts across the country.

What I would like to see now is England continuing to develop, becoming a team capable of consistently dominating their opponents and giving English football a real identity.

We now have players who are comfortable with the ball and who are technically very good.

The biggest disappointment of the tournament was not seeing this as often as we would have liked. It leaves us with a feeling of ‘what if?’.

England must not lose that old-school mentality of finding a way to win even when you’re not playing well, that never-give-up spirit that has seen us through this Euro more than once.

But the next step is to allow other qualities to shine, to give the players our system creates the platform to show everything they can do.

My job and that of the other coaches is to continue to produce players who are comfortable on the ball and who understand how to perform under pressure at a high level.

English football is in good shape, but we need to keep the momentum going. Then we will finally cross the finish line.

All of SunSport columnist Jack Wilshere’s Euro 2024 coverage…