England’s agonising extra-time defeat to Croatia in Wednesday’s semi-final means that Paul Pogba, triumphant in Tuesday’s tie with France, will be Manchester United’s only representative in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final.
Hopes that his club colleagues Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young, Marcus Rashford and Phil Jones could join him were raised when Kieran Trippier’s free-kick fired the Three Lions into a fifth-minute lead, but were ultimately dashed after a second-half equaliser by Ivan Perisic and an extra-time winner from Mario Mandzukic.
England dominated the first half and could have doubled the lead when Lingard, who was also involved in the lead-up to Trippier’s set-piece opener, played in Harry Kane for a close-range opportunity.