England Captain Harry Kane Admits What Went Wrong vs Argentina at World Cup
Newsweek · C · trust 23/100
0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. England winger Anthony Gordon buried Morgan Rogers' cross to give the Three Lions a 1-0 advantage over Argentina , the defending champions, in the semifinal of the 2026 FIFA men's World Cup .
England captain Harry Kane was all smiles after the goal. Entering the match, he and Jude Bellingham had scored six goals apiece and accounted for 12 of England's 13 goals at this World Cup. In the moment, it was a huge endorsement that England cracked Argentina without Bellingham or Kane's heroics. But then, they got too comfortable.
England manager Thomas Tuchel dropped into a back five — at one point a 5-4-1 — which backfired tremendously. Enzo Fernandez found a golazo of an equalizer in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martinez headed in the winner in the 92nd minute. England held a measly 12% possession between Gordon's goal and Argentina's game-winner off the head of Martinez.
"Just gutted," Kane said post-match, per FOX Sports . "Gutted for the boys. Gutted for everyone — the team, the staff, the fans. Yeah, we played a good game for the large majority of it, but as we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which, at this level, it's not enough."
"The lads have given every last bit of running, sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is, so to fall short like we did today is just gutting," Kane continued.
A little while later, Kane opened up about the "missed opportunity" with Geoff Shreeves.
"You're 10, 15 minutes away from reaching a final," Kane said. "It's been a tough tournament, a lot of tough games. We've had to show a lot of resilience, so, of course, it's a missed opportunity. We've been close. We've been close before in Euros and World Cups now. I spoke before the game about knocking on the door. We're knocking on the door. We just need to find that missing piece to get through it."
When asked to identify the missing piece, Kane couldn't with certainty. But he emphasized a need to play better in the final 30 and yet again lamented Tuchel's conservative tactics: "The mindset of not trying to hang on too early; there's times for that, but also there's times where you still need to push and still need to try and create chances yourself."
Tuchel, for his part, told reporters that he had " no regrets " and did not agree that England had "a structural problem" down the stretch.
This debate will rage on across the U.K. for at least the next four years, as England still haven't won the World Cup since 1966. The Three Lions will play France in the third-place match in Miami on Saturday, July 18, while Argentina and Spain will clash in the World Cup final on Sunday, July 19.
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