Southgate asked about England being booed off by fans after USA draw

World Cup: Declan Rice reacts to England's draw with USA

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Gareth Southgate has spoken of his surprise that his England side were booed off against the USA after a goalless draw in Qatar as they missed the chance to qualify for the knockout stages of the World Cup. The Three Lions produced a drab display with only two shots on target and there were audible boos that came from sections of the Al Bayt Stadium as the teams walked off the pitch.

England were far from the fluid, confident side that blew away Iran 6-2 on Monday and failed to create chances of the same type against the USA, who set up impressively and matched the energy of their European opponents.

Southgate raised some eyebrows by fielding an unchanged starting XI, including Harry Kane, who looked some way short of full fitness after suffering a knock against Iran.

And their jaded display failed to impress fans who had made the trip to the Middle East, with those hoping England could seal top spot in Group B.

When asked about his side being booed in his post-match press conference, the England boss insisted he was not aware of any boos being aimed at his side but refused to condemn those supporters for airing their feelings about the performance.

“People are going to react how they’re going to react. I can’t let that affect how I feel,” Southgate said.

“This is the tournament of external noise, and we’ll have another layer of that I’m sure. But we’re still on track.”

The England boss was relentlessly criticised on social media after choosing not to bring on Phil Foden from the bench, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Gallagher were unused despite their creative influence.

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Captain Harry Kane admitted that the Three Lions were some way short of their best but put their under-par display down to facing a “tough team” in the USA.

“It wasn’t our best performance for sure, had some good spells with the ball, got in some good positions but didn’t quite have the final product. Great clean sheet puts us in a great position.

“Being clinical, the complete contrast to the Iran game, we took our chances really well. Today we had two or three good opportunities but didn’t manage to put them away, overall we’re playing a tough team, move on.

England are on the verge of qualifying from Group B after Wales lost 2-0 against Iran earlier on Friday, meaning Southgate’s men now only need to avoid a four-goal defeat at the hands of their British neighbours on Tuesday.

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