'It wasn’t us as a team:' England skipper Kane opens up on loss against Argentina in FIFA World Cup semis
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'It wasn’t us as a team:' England skipper Kane opens up on loss against Argentina in FIFA World Cup semis")
England skipper Kane opens up on loss against Argentina in FIFA World Cup semis Photograph: (AFP)
England captain Harry Kane admitted he still struggles with their 1–2 World Cup semi-final loss to Argentina. Head coach Thomas Tuchel's late defensive substitutions backfired, sparking criticism.
England football skipper Harry Kane has admitted that he is still not over the semi-final loss against Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup earlier this year. England lost to Argentina 1–2 despite going ahead in the 55th minute, before conceding two goals after 84 minutes of play. England coach Thomas Tuchel was also criticized for his substitutions in the game, but he still stands by them. Kane's comments came ahead of England's Nations League match against Spain on Saturday (Sep 26) at Wembley Stadium in London.
England skipper Kane opens up on loss against Argentina
"It felt like it wasn’t us as a team," Kane said, as reported by The Guardian. "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."
Apart from the loss against rivals Argentina, Kane acknowledged falling short in other matches as well, stating: "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."
How England lost against Argentina
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After Anthony Gordon put England ahead in the 55th minute, Tuchel replaced the winger with defender Ezri Konsa in the 72nd minute. Tuchel made two more changes 10 minutes later, replacing defender Reece James with defender Dan Burn and midfielder Declan Rice with mid-fielder Nico O'Reilly. The tactical shift backfired as Enzo Fernández scored the equalizer for Argentina two minutes later in the 85th minute, before Lautaro Martínez scored the winner two minutes into injury time.
Tuchel then tried to wrestle back control of the game by replacing defenders John Stones and Djed Spence with strikers Ivan Toney and Marcus Rashford in the sixth minute of injury time, but it was too late for England.
