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Gareth Southgate is determined to end Britain's "brilliant year" by beating Croatia in the World Cup semi-finals to reach the first League of Nations final.
Even the most optimistic proponent would have struggled to predict how 2018 has come up for the Three Lions callow.
Southgate's confidence in youth has paid off in Russia, with England qualifying for the third time among the four finalists, as the year ends with a revenge mission that offers a chance to win silverware next summer.
Croatia broke English hearts in the semi-finals in Moscow in July and will travel to Wembley this Sunday in a win-win match that will end the relegation of the A4 group and the winner.
Progress towards the League of Nations finals of a group including Croatia and Spain would constitute a feat and another promising sign of progress.
"We were very keen to leave the World Cup as soon as possible," said Southgate.
"It was a brilliant year. Whatever happens on Sunday, we have made real progress and achieved remarkable results, very good performances and many new players.
"It gave us a real depth to the team and the competition for the places.
"But I think everyone wants to take another step and qualify for a semifinal of a group as difficult as in this competition.
"So, it's a very good game for everyone to wait."
England deserved to win the match last month against Croatia, but the mysterious and mysterious matchup in Rijeka ended on a clean sheet.
The men of Southgate then signed a memorable 3-2 win in Spain. Zlatko Dalic's men were shocked by the same result in Zagreb on Thursday night, leaving Sunday's match against the knife.
"We have two days to get ready, so that's one of the reasons we faced the team we faced tonight," said the English boss after his experimental team defeated the United States 3-0 in a friendly match at Wembley.
"We are going to watch their match tonight, just to see how they tackled it in front of Spain, but we know just about everything there is to know about Croatia – more importantly, their desire, their mentality is awesome.
"So we know tonight would have given them a huge boost before coming here.
"They'll love coming to Wembley, they'll be looking forward to that.
"We knew that the home game for them without a crowd was probably as difficult for them as it was for us.
"But at Wembley, they have important players who will appreciate this challenge, and we must also enjoy it."
England launches into the match without further injuries.
The involvement of the all-time leading scorer, Wayne Rooney, against the United States was always going to be unique, while Luke Shaw and Joe Gomez returned to the fold after missing the match with minor injuries.
Southgate is expected to make in-depth changes for the visit to Croatia, having presented its debut to Lewis Dunk, Alex McCarthy and striker Callum Wilson.
Thursday's game also saw Jadon Sancho make his first international start with a decisive pass as the 18-year-old showed self-confidence and great skill against the Americans.
"I think part of the one-touch and two-touch football around the surface was really exciting," Southgate said.
"I thought Dele (Alli) and Jesse (Lingard) were both very good in this opening period.
"We talk a lot about the lack of creativity of the English players, but when we call Ruben (Loftus-Cheek), we have Jadon, Jesse and Dele, and we know that there are other players in the system. it's an exciting time.
"None of these guys is the finished article and Jadon is very raw.
"Some of the decisions he made tonight were very good and some less, but it will be the role of an attacking player.
"We want him to try things out and that he feels free enough in an England shirt to do these things. He can be really happy with his first start. "
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