Kane: Argentina loss hurt more than any England exit – including my missed penalty

Kane lays bare the pain of Argentina and sets his sights on Spain

Harry Kane has described England's World Cup semi-final defeat to Argentina as the most painful exit of his international career, admitting the manner of the 2-1 loss cut deeper than anything he has experienced in an England shirt – including his missed penalty against France in 2022.

The captain is determined to move on quickly as England prepare for a statement performance against Spain at Wembley on Saturday night in the Nations League. But he concedes he is not yet over the defeat in which England, after taking the lead in the 55th minute, barely touched the ball again.

“It felt like it wasn’t us as a team,” Kane said, reflecting on how England lost their way. “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.

“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 [at the 2022 World Cup] in Qatar [against France in the 2-1 quarter-final loss] because of just the manner that it happened.”

A healing process with no time to waste

Asked whether recovering from the defeat was a healing process, Kane replied: “It kind of is. 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 knows England must identify why they have repeatedly fallen short against the toughest teams when it matters most. “How can we be better in those moments?” he said. “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 accepted it was not only against Argentina that England fell below their best. “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. The message from Thomas Tuchel, who addressed the squad at St George’s Park on Tuesday, was one of fine-tuning rather than a fresh start. “The general messaging is that we continue what we’ve been building,” Kane said. “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.”

Five withdrawals rock Tuchel’s plans

The buildup has been disrupted by the withdrawals of Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento for the upcoming Nations League fixtures. After Spain, England travel to face Czechia and Croatia before returning to Wembley to play Czechia.

Rice’s absence has drawn attention because it is for load-management reasons rather than an acute injury. Kane understands the call, given Rice’s well-documented 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.”

Records, Ballon d’Or and a Bayern extension

It is a seismic period for Kane personally. He is four caps shy of Peter Shilton’s all-time England record of 125 and could draw level by the end of the 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.”

Golf, the NFL and a hint of MLS

The 33-year-old allowed his thoughts to drift to the longer term, hinting he sees himself finishing his career in Major League Soccer while musing about a post-football ambition to become an NFL kicker. “I take penalties and it [being an NFL kicker] is a very similar pressure and technique,” he said. “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.”

Kane has previously spoken about a possible golf career. A club member at Wentworth who plays off two, he revealed he missed the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina because he was out for a round in New York. “I watch golf and think: ‘I could be there,’” he said. “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.”