James Maddison slunk out of Goodison Park and had a clear message for anyone who wanted to discuss his prospects of going to Qatar.
He had been advised by his club not to talk about England and the look on his face suggested he was braced for disappointment. Brendan Rodgers, in another part of the stadium, was similarly pessimistic about Qatar featuring on his midfielder's agenda. If only they had known the reality.
Gareth Southgate had decided two weeks ago that Maddison would be in his 26-man squad for the World Cup and took great delight in punching his number into his phone on Thursday morning to give him the news that he needed to cancel all his plans.