The England boss selected a number of young players in his squad for the competition, a first major tournament for many of them.
And after winning six successive games in Euro Qualifying since their World Cup exit last June, Hodgson believes the experience gained from their time in South America has served the players well.
Roy Hodgson and his squad after their final World Cup game in Belo Horizonte
"It was an experience for many young players," he told FATV, as he sat down to look back at 2014.
"For the first time, going into a World Cup does add to the stress levels that players have to deal with and it asks a lot of their mentality and ability to stand up to a lot of things which might have little to do with playing and training.
"All of those things can only serve us well in the future. We had belief, we had faith in what we were doing and we had confidence.
"We had high hopes for the team and we prepared in the best possible way to do well in the World Cup.
"But of course it led to elimination after two defeats."
The unfortunate reverses against Italy and Uruguay in the first two matches of the World Cup meant that a 0-0 draw against Costa Rica in the final group match was not enough to see England into the knock-out stage.
But it is the not just the on-field matters which Hodgson believes are important, with the spotlight and intensity of a World Cup also playing a part in the all-round learning curve for his players.
And that is what the Three Lions manager is hoping can aid his side in the long term.
"It's very difficult to talk about positives coming out of it," admitted the former Liverpool and West Brom boss.
"One would like to think that all experiences give you something extra, if you use them in the right way.
"I would like to think that the players have been able to use the experience in the right way, at least for us going forward.
"In future tournaments, they'll be better-prepared than they were going into this one.
"It is not all about physical preparation and technical preparation, there's a lot of mental and psychological issues that have to be dealt with and that is something that every team grapples with."
Watch Roy’s review of 2014 with FATV in the video player below.
England manager Roy Hodgson sits down with FATV to look back on 2014.
