A company that made 18,000 England World Cup winner shirts says it is facing a "major loss" after the team was knocked out of the tournament last week.
England crashed out of the World Cup after being beaten 2-1 by France, with captain Harry Kane missing a penalty in the 84th minute.
The team's defeat came as a massive blow to the boss of a Poole-based company, who was so confident in manager Gareth Southgate's side winning he purchased 18,000 football shirts to sell ahead of the quarter-final, celebrating England as the World Cup 2022 winners.
Karl Baxter, who is managing director of Wholesale Clearance UK, thought the shirts would "go down a storm" with England football supporters, reports Business Live.
He added that while he thought buying the shirts was premature, he had faith in the team going all the way and winning the World Cup.
Mr Baxter said: "I'm absolutely gutted that England has been knocked out of the World Cup.
"I have been really impressed with England's performance in Qatar and was sure they would win this year's tournament. When approached by a supplier to sell the shirts, I simply couldn't say no."
Mr Baxter was planning to sell the red, white and blue football shirts, which read ‘England Cup Winners 2022, It’s Finally Home', for £29.99 each.
But after the team's defeat, the wholesaler is desperately trying to flog the merchandise for £9.99 instead.
As a result of discounting the shirts, Wholesale Clearance said it could lose out on £360,000.
Mr Baxter said: "I've been left with 18,000 shirts that say they’ve won – and I'm not sure what to do.
"I'd like to appeal to England fans to purchase one of the shirts, to keep it as a piece of history and a reminder of how well our team played throughout the tournament.
"While they haven't won, they are still winners in my eyes."
