FA Chairman Geoff Thompson spoke to TheFA.com moments after England's penalty shoot-out defeat to praise the Three Lions' magnificent supporters.

Throughout the whole tournament, England's fans have lived up to their reputation of being the best in the world.

The fans turned each stadium England played in into a theatre of colour and cauldron of noise - an atmosphere the players enjoyed playing in.

Thompson said: "Everyone at The FA and the whole of the England team would like to thank our fantastic fans for their tremendous support during our World Cup campaign.

"They brought life, colour and tremendous enthusiasm to every stadium and city that we visited.

"Although the pain of our exit is very hard to take, everyone would like to show their tremendous gratitude to our fantastic fans."