Jill Scott unsure about England future after Women's World Cup exit

Jill Scott was coy about her England future after the Lionesses crashed out of the Women’s World Cup in the semi-finals.

Phil Neville’s side were narrowly defeated by holders the USA in a devastating result which saw Steph Houghton have a penalty saved and Ellen White have a goal ruled out for a narrow offside after a VAR review.

Now 32 years old, this could be Scott’s last World Cup tournament, but she was not certain.

Asked whether it was, the midfielder said: “It’s a good question to be fair.

“I feel okay at the minute to be honest, but would it be realistic to say another four years? 

“I’d be 36 so yes, it could be my last, but I’ve said before I don’t really like to think too far ahead.

“My aim was just to get through this one and then decide after that what the plan is.

“I feel good at the minute and I still feel I can compete at this level.”

There is plenty for Scott and England to look forward to before then, anyway.

The Lionesses’ run to the semi-finals means that Team GB will compete at next summer’s Olympics in Tokyo, and one year later England will host the Euros.

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Scott is hoping to stick around for those two tournaments at least.

“Obviously we got the qualification for the Olympics which wasn’t an easy task when you look at the teams that got knocked out and we won’t have that opportunity so again that’s another thing we can feel proud of,” the Manchester City star said.

“But at the moment everything just seems to hurt.

“A home Euros would be fantastic.

“Hopefully we’ve gained a few supporters on the way of this journey and hopefully they’ll stick with us and follow us in an Olympics and home Euros.”

They will go into both of those competitions with their heads held high and as one of the front-runners for glory too as a result of this tournament, and after they came so close to a big result against the USA.

“We knew it was going to be a difficult game, they’re not number one in the world for nothing but I think we can take great pride in the fact that we competed,” Scott added.

“Obviously this team now has been to three semi-finals consecutively in major tournaments and I don’t think many teams can say they’ve done that. 

“I think once the emotion’s gone out of it - it hurts at the moment, a lot - hopefully we can leave this tournament and feel like we’ve done a good job.”