The Three Lions progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition after a dramatic 2-1 victory after extra time on Sunday (30.06.24), after staring elimination in the face until Jude Bellingham's injury-time equaliser, although Southgate never contemplated that England would be going home.

The England boss told ITV Sport: "It's strange, but I never felt like tonight would be the end of our tournament.

"Even with the long throw [from Kyle Walker], you felt there was hope. We can cause some chaos and something might drop. I didn't think the finish would be quite what it was!

"With 15 minutes to go, you're thinking Jude is out on his feet and should we take him off and put fresh legs on.

"But you know the sort of impact he can have on a game and those moments are why you stick with him at that time.

"The top players affect the big games in the moments when you need them. It's that mentality that he has."

Southgate praised the "belief" England showed in coming from behind to win despite another flat performance.

He said: "I think it's one of those classic England nights where we put everybody through the mill.

"They're a good team, it took us a long time to work out how to get through their pressure and you've got to be patient to do that. There's anxiety in the stadium when you're behind too.

"In the second half, we did that better and we were probing and kept being patient. The players that came in had an impact, but in the end, we were relying on a long throw to be the moment.

"But when you've pushed as much as you have and the opponents out on their feet, then those moments can happen and you've got to keep the belief."