“Well done to all the African countries that represented our continent at the World Cup. You made Africa proud and showed the world what African football is capable of,” he wrote.

“Africa deserves fewer World Cup slots,” he said, referring to the number of automatic qualifying places allocated to that continent rising from five to nine in an expanded 48-nation event.

England received a boost on the eve of their World Cup quarter-final against Norway after Declan Rice, Marc Guehi and Reece James all returned to training on Friday.

“I see myself as a different player, although I score the same goals,” the England captain, 32, said on Friday.

The 2026 World Cup has brought out the worst of this “Nearly Syndrome.” This was the tournament we thought our continent would use to tell the rest of the world that we had arrived.