Declan Rice is sure England are "close" to ending their long wait for a trophy, saying the team that finished third at the World Cup is undoubtedly the Three Lions' best since 1966.

England defeated France 6-4 in an enthralling third-place play-off on Saturday, with Bukayo Saka scoring a hat-trick and Rice, Ezri Konsa and Jude Bellingham also netting. 

The Three Lions' bronze medal represents their best finish at any World Cup on foreign soil and their best outright since they won the tournament in 1966.

However, the nature of Wednesday's semi-final defeat to Argentina, in which Thomas Tuchel's side sat deep after Anthony Gordon's 55th-minute opener and ultimately conceded two late goals, left a sour taste for many fans.

Tuchel was booed by some of those in attendance at the bronze-medal match, though he said afterwards that England's victory was the "first step" towards cutting the gap to the world's top sides.

Rice has now represented England at four tournaments, with those campaigns resulting in two final defeats (Euro 2020 and 2024), one quarter-final exit (2022 World Cup) and one third-place finish.

And the midfielder – who tasted silverware with Arsenal in the Premier League last campaign – is sure the current England generation will eventually deliver a trophy. 

"This is the best England group for a very long time. That's a fact. No-one can take that away from us," Rice told BBC Sport after the win over France. 

"I think we can be proud as a group. We are just gutted we lost in that semi-final.

"We're tired of saying we're proud of coming in semi-finals or quarter-finals. We want to win with England, ultimately. 

"But to come third in this tournament is a real achievement.

"We're so close, honestly. There's been so much talk about this group over the last few years going out of tournaments. There's been semi-final exits, quarter-finals, finals.

"I think we need to keep going. I do think it's close. It's a game of small margins. It's football and the other night we lost on margins and in the boxes."

England will be on home soil for their next major tournament, serving as co-hosts for Euro 2028 alongside Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

Before then, they will face Spain, Czechia and Croatia in Group A3 of the Nations League, with the 2026-27 competition kicking off in late September.