Football: Did England attempt to score while Croatia celebrated second goal?

Croatia's Mario Mandzukic. Photo / AP

England's World Cup dream is over after falling to Croatia 2-1 in extra time.

Gareth Southgate's men threw everything that they had at the Croatians, including - it turns out - an attempt to take advantage of a perceived rule loophole.

Fan footage has emerged on social media showing England attempting to kick-off and score while Croatian players were off the field celebrating their second goal.

Of course, the referee called the play back and made them retake the kick-off. But the untelevised footage certainly showed the extent England were willing to go to score against Croatia to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

Panama had previously attempted the same trick against England in the group stage, which was again not allowed by the referee.

It didn't, however, stop England from attempting the same thing in the semifinal.

Talk about the potential rule loophole started after Portugal's Jose Fonte strangely chose to stay in the field of play while the rest of his team celebrated Cristiano Ronaldo's equaliser against Spain off the pitch.

The thinking was that if all players had left the field of play, the opposing team would be allowed to kick-off with only the goalkeeper left to defend the goal.

However, this appears to be a misinterpretation of the rules.

FIFA's rules state that "all players, except the player taking the kick-off, must be in their own half of the field of play" at kick-off - with no mention of players being off the field.

The referees clearly didn't agree with the supposed loophole, leaving England players red faced in the middle of the pitch.