Gary Neville highlights Gareth Southgate mistake as England fail to beat USA at the World Cup

Gary Neville has criticised for not starting England’s ‘best player’ at the .

Foden – who has won four Premier League titles, four League Cups and the FA Cup with – was an unused substitute in England’s goalless draw with USA.

The 22-year-old only came on for the final 20 minutes of the 6-2 thrashing over Iran earlier in the week and Neville is baffled by his lack of minutes.

England produced a sluggish performance at the Al Bayt Stadium and USA were unfortunate not to go ahead when Chelsea winger Christian Pulisic struck the bar in the first half.

Pulisic was one of a number of Americans to go close as England struggled to create chances and build on their impressive victory over Iran.

Speaking during the half-time break, former Manchester United and England defender Neville bemoaned Foden’s absence and claimed he was the ‘best player’ and ‘best talent’ in the Three Lions’ squad.

He told ITV Sport: ‘I know he’s not playing, but for Phil Foden not to start for England, it’s a real shame.

‘He’s a massive talent. I think he’s our best player and our best talent by a mile in this country. He should be starting in that team really.’

Neville added at full-time: ‘Tournaments are very rarely a bed of roses and Gareth Southgate will know that.

‘The clean sheet is a positive but the midfield didn’t click and looked tired at times.

‘For me, Phil Foden’s talent is huge, I haven’t seen anything like that, and I know we’ve got players like Jude Bellingham in the squad.

‘Southgate prefers Mason Mount and Raheem Sterling but for Foden not to start and not to come on either is interesting.’

While England will be disappointed not to secure another win in Doha, they now only need to avoid a three-goal defeat to Wales in their final group game to guarantee their place in the World Cup knockout stages.

Three Lions captain Harry Kane looked to take the positives from England’s draw with USA, telling ITV: ‘It wasn’t our best performance – we created some good positions but we didn’t have the final product.

‘But it’s a great clean sheet and it puts us in a great position in the group. Today we had two or three good opportunities and we didn’t put them away.

‘We were playing a tough team. We move on. A draw isn’t the end of the world for us. It puts us in a great position.

‘No game is easy in the World Cup. After our first performance people thought we would landslide every team we play but it doesn’t work like that.

‘We were playing against a really organised team with some quality players and we respect that.’

Group B culminates on Tuesday with England facing Wales and Iran taking on USA.

, .