Gary Lineker has outlined his hope Gareth Southgate remains with England, comparing their lack of World Cup success to Manchester City's failure to win the Champions League.
Southgate is considering his future after overseeing England's quarter-final exit against France, in which Harry Kane scored one penalty and missed another.
The Three Lions manager masterminded runs to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2020, but he has attracted criticism for failing to end the team's 56-year trophy drought.
However, former England striker Lineker believes Southgate's achievements mean he deserves the opportunity to make his own decision on his future.
"I do hope Gareth stays. I think it's right that the decision is down to him," Lineker told BBC Sport. "He's done a really good job, you've got to consider where we were a few years ago.
"Everyone thinks it's an easy job and everyone thinks: 'I'd have played him and not him, or brought him on earlier and not him'. It's very easy in hindsight.
"I think Gareth has done a really good job. The only thing you'd say about him is sometimes he hasn't changed things dramatically in games where it's not going well.
"It's very easy to be judgemental but World Cups are not leagues. In a league, the best team always wins. In a World Cup, it's a knockout."
England won praise for a series of positive displays in Qatar, recording their highest goal tally (13) at any major tournament (World Cup or European Championships).
England also had 57 per cent possession and managed twice as many shots as France (16 to eight) in their last-eight loss, leading Lineker to compare them to Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions.
Despite winning four Premier League titles in the past five seasons, City have suffered several shock eliminations from the Champions League under Guardiola, which Lineker says is proof knockout football does not always reward the best team.
"Take Manchester City, probably the best club side in the world, but they haven't won the Champions League and they haven't won it under Pep Guardiola, who is the best coach in the world," he added.
"No one would say, 'let's get Pep out because we haven't won the Champions League', because that would be madness.
"We haven't won the World Cup but we're going in the right direction. England are playing really good, attractive football with lots of exciting young players. Why would you mess with it now?"
Southgate must now weigh up whether to remain in charge for England's Euro 2024 qualifying campaign, which begins with a trip to Italy on March 23.
Napoli chief confident of Spalletti stay as contract talks remain on hold
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is confident coach Luciano Spalletti will remain with the Scudetto hopefuls beyond the expiration of his contract at the end of the season.
Napoli appear destined to win their first Serie A title since the Diego Maradona era this campaign, having built a huge 19-point lead over second-placed Lazio.
Having earned a club-record 71 points from their first 27 games of the Serie A season, Napoli will also face Milan in the club's first Champions League quarter-final appearance next month.
Napoli reportedly hold an option to trigger a 12-month extension to Spalletti's contract, with the 64-year-old having previously ruled out talks over fresh terms before the title is secured.
De Laurentiis is not worried about the prospect of Spalletti walking away, praising the coach's seismic impact upon the club as he recalled his 2021 appointment on Friday.
Speaking at an event in Naples, De Laurentiis recalled: "To throw everyone off the track, I went for [Sergio] Conceicao and [Massimiliano] Allegri, who came to give me football lessons in my office four times.
"In the end, Luciano came to bring us back to the top three in Italy and also last year, something different could have happened.
"If the rules of football were different, perhaps we would have brought the Scudetto to Naples a few other times already. Spalletti will stay in Naples."
Napoli host Milan in their next Serie A fixture on April 2, while the first leg of their Champions League last-eight tie with the Rossoneri will take place 10 days later at San Siro.
Aguero rates chance of Messi return to Barca at '50 per cent'
Lionel Messi has a "50 per cent" chance of returning to Barcelona, according to former team-mate and close friend Sergio Aguero.
Messi left Barca for French side Paris Saint-Germain in 2021 after a long and decorated spell with the Catalan giants, winning 10 LaLiga titles and lifting the Champions League on four occasions.
His time in the French capital has been mixed, however, failing to deliver PSG's long-awaited first Champions League having been knocked out in the last 16 the last two seasons.
Messi scored his 800th career goal with a stunning free-kick as Argentina returned after World Cup glory in Qatar with a 2-0 victory over Panama on Thursday.
With the seven-time Ballon d'Or winner's contract at the Parc des Princes set to expire at the end of this campaign, Aguero feels a reunion with the club he first joined when he was 13 could be on the cards.
Aguero called upon Barca president Joan Laporta to bring Messi back to Camp Nou, telling Kings League's Twitch: "Laporta has to make an effort to bring Leo back.
"I think Leo should retire at Barca. Barcelona is his home, he has to finish his career here.
"My feeling is that there is a 50 per cent chance that he will return.
"I think if Laporta does that step [to contact Messi], everything will be much closer to happening."
Messi's Argentina are back in action on Tuesday against Curacao, when the 35-year-old will have the opportunity to score his 100th goal for La Albiceleste having moved on to 99 with his historic strike against Panama.
Messi hits 800th goal and tells Argentina to milk their moment of World Cup fever
Lionel Messi struck the 800th goal of his remarkable career and lifted the World Cup trophy one more time in Buenos Aires, telling all of Argentina to enjoy this footballing prosperity while it lasts.
His landmark strike came in a 2-0 friendly win against Panama on Thursday at El Monumental, as Argentina played their first game since triumphing at Qatar 2022.
They showed off their World Cup spoils after the final whistle, with Messi addressing the crowd and saying it was a moment he had dreamt of throughout his life.
Messi, who turns 36 in June, delivered another inspired performance for his country, hitting the crossbar with two free kicks before sending another into the top corner in the 89th minute.
That brought up the 800 for club and country and sealed Argentina's win, after Thiago Almada bagged the opener in the 78th minute. It was also Messi's 99th goal for Argentina.
With a microphone in his right hand, and his left placed on the trophy, Messi told the crowd: "I want to thank you for all the love we are receiving, not just for winning the World Cup but from before, when we won the Copa America.
"I always dreamed of this moment, being able to celebrate with you in this country. Let's enjoy it because we spent a long time to win it, and because you don't know how long it will take until we win it again. Let's enjoy the third star."
Paris Saint-Germain's former Barcelona star won the Golden Ball at the World Cup for his efforts in captaining Argentina to glory. That is the trophy awarded to the player of the tournament.
Argentina won the World Cup previously in 1978 and 1986, with a 36-year wait coming to an end when La Albiceleste beat France on penalties in the December 18 final, after a 3-3 draw.
Messi will almost certainly have retired from international duty by the time the next World Cup rolls around in 2026, marking the end of a storied era.
He was keen to spread the latest acclaim throughout the Argentina ranks.
"I know that today is our day, but I don't want to forget all those colleagues I had before, who also did everything possible to get this one, and unfortunately it didn't happen to us, we were very close," he said. "They also deserve respect and recognition.
"We were going to do everything we could for this. I always dreamed of this moment, being able to come to my country and lift the World Cup. It was shown that it is very difficult to achieve this, it depends on many things. Sometimes due to small details it gets away from you.”
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