Harry Kane: England’s World Cup semi defeat by Argentina ‘hurt more than any other’

Harry Kane said England’s World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina "hurt more than any other" as he prepares to face Spain at Wembley in the Nations League on Saturday. The England captain said the manner of the 2-1 loss weighed on him and that he wants a statement performance.

Kane said the team lost sight of who they were in that 2-1 defeat, barely touching the ball after going ahead in the 55th minute. He added he is determined to move on quickly but admitted the Argentina game remains something he and his England teammates must work to process. "It felt like it wasn’t us as a team," he said. "It wasn’t the team that we wanted to be and said we’d be. When you maybe go against your beliefs and you lose, it feels 10 times worse than just losing in a way where … if we lose doing it our way you accept it, take it on the chin and move on. It’s tough and it will still be tough."

Reflecting on his personal reaction, Kane pointed to his long involvement with England and compared the pain of the Argentina exit to previous tournament disappointments. "I’m so passionate about England and especially because I’ve been on this journey … been to finals, semi‑finals and been so close. Each one hurts in a different way and this one hurt, for sure, more than any other one. I’d say even more than when I missed the penalty in Qatar [in the 2-1 defeat by France in the 2022 World Cup quarter-finals] because of just the manner that it happened," he said.

When asked if the process of recovery constituted a healing period, Kane admitted it did but stressed the need to move on quickly. "It kind of is," he replied. "But you have to heal while getting on with it. In football, you don’t have time. Before you know it’s the next one. It’s a hard balance because you’re trying to get over it and learn from it but also we play the world champions on Saturday and it’s a big, important game."

Kane said England must work out why they have repeatedly fallen short in decisive moments against top opposition and outlined areas for group discussion. "How can we be better in those moments? How can we be ourselves more in those moments? Through qualifying campaigns and a lot of games in tournaments, we play with a certain intensity, we play in a good way. It’s something that we haven’t quite been able to do in latter stages of tournaments against the bigger and better nations. It may be a mixture of things. It may be personalities, mentality. It may be just the direction and how we want to play in those games. It’s conversations that we need to have as a group."

Kane also acknowledged there were other matches at the World Cup where England did not hit the standards they set in training and highlighted the squad meeting led by Thomas Tuchel. "Taking away the big loss at the end, there were still games at the World Cup where we didn’t quite reach our potential, the way that we train," he said. He described Tuchel’s message at St George’s Park on Tuesday as focused on fine-tuning rather than wholesale change: "The general messaging is that we continue what we’ve been building. Sometimes after a tournament, it’s easy to say it’s a new start but I don’t think it is that. It’s a continuation because we have done a lot of good things."

Tuchel has been affected by withdrawals from the squad for the upcoming Nations League fixtures, with Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento all ruled out; after Spain, England travel to Czechia and Croatia before returning to Wembley to face Czechia. Rice’s absence is for load-management reasons rather than an immediate injury, a decision Kane said he understands given Rice’s well-documented problems with nerve pain in a hamstring. "I spoke to Dec," Kane said. "I know Dec goes far and beyond for the club and country. I know he’s been struggling for a while with his issues. Dec reached out to me, he voice-noted me. Everyone has to look after themselves and I trust all the boys."

Kane is four caps shy of Peter Shilton’s all‑time England record of 125 and could be level by the end of this international window; he is also tipped to win the Ballon d’Or on 26 October and is poised to extend his contract at Bayern Munich. "We’re fairly close," he said. "I’m happy there. It won’t be too long before there’s some sort of announcement." He discussed a longer-term interest in becoming an NFL kicker and the possibility of linking that with a future in MLS: "I take penalties and it [being an NFL kicker] is a very similar pressure and technique. If I was to do it, it is something I would take seriously. I would take six months to a year to try and practise before. Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that, it might be a thing where you could connect the two maybe with the seasons." On golf, he said he skipped the World Cup final to play a round in New York and added: "I watch golf and think: ‘I could be there.’ Then I go out and play and I am like: ‘There’s no way.’ I play off two. But I am a member at Wentworth and I shoot 10 over. Then I watch the pros, who played there last week, and 20 under wins it. I think I’ll stick to football." England host Spain at Wembley on Saturday.