The World Cup finals in Russia feel a lot longer than two years ago, especially for an England team, beaten 2-0 by Belgium on Sunday, that have lost their way.
During their run to the semifinals in 2018, England seemed to have solved the long-standing puzzle of how find a way to inject the quality, tempo and excitement of Premier League football into the national team's style of play. Finally, Gareth Southgate had created a team where players were performing in the same manner, with the same intensity and positivity, that they showed with their clubs every week.