Bukayo Saka says England’s players are still carrying the “scar” of the Argentina defeat as they enter their first international break since World Cup heartbreak.

The Three Lions achieved their best ever finish at a World Cup as they came away with bronze, but the defining moment of the campaign was their late semi-final capitulation against the 2022 winners, losing 2-1 in stoppage time.

Tuchel held a meeting with the squad on Tuesday to talk through what happened at the World Cup and turn attention towards the home Euros in 2028.

The England manager had also referenced the “scar” of the Argentina game in his first interview since the tournament and while Saka admits the players are still hurting, he asserts they have to look forward.

“Obviously, there’s still a scar in us,” he said on BBC Radio 5 Live . “When you believed, and everyone was so united and so confident we could do it, not just us, but the whole country.

“We’re trying to draw a line under it now and focus on the new international season and what we have coming up now.

“You try to move on as soon as possible, but you know, a scar is a scar (and) decides to heal when it heals itself.

“But like I said, we’ve come here to a new international season, and we’ve got four massive, difficult group games to try to qualify us in the Nations League, which we’re fully focused on.”