Gareth Southgate left open after England's World Cup exit whether he would like to continue as coach of the Three Lions. The 52-year-old looked back over the past 18 months and explained how tough they had been for him.

The Three Lions were eliminated in the World Cup quarter-finals after a narrow 2-1 defeat by holders France. Harry Kane's penalty miss sealed the bitter end of the Three Lions.

Coach Gareth Southgate wants to reconsider staying in charge of the Three Lions after the World Cup. His contract is valid until after the upcoming EM 2024.

"I've found a lot of the last 18 months difficult," Southgate said. "For everything I've loved about the past few weeks, I still feel like things were like that for 18 months - what was said and written, the night at Wolves," the 52-year-old continued "Night in Wolves" he meant the 0: 4 against Hungary in mid-June in the Nations League. Southgate was heavily criticized afterwards. Many called for his replacement.

"There are a lot of things on my mind that are very conflicting at the moment and I want to make sure I have the energy to do that if the right thing is to stay. In the last couple of tournaments, it's been difficult to manage my emotions process properly in the weeks that followed. It took so much energy and there's so much going through your head," said Southgate.

"I want to make the right decision either way because it has to be the right decision to go on or not to go on - and I don't think today is the right time to make that decision. Neither will the next few days " he continued.

So it remains to be seen whether Southgate will lead England to the upcoming European Championship.

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This article was originally published on 90min.de as Gareth Southgate leaves the future at Three Lions open: "It took so much energy".