ATLANTA — England captain Harry Kane was devastated Wednesday after his team gave up two late goals and fell to Argentina in a World Cup semifinal, saying the squad tried to hold their lead but ultimately came up short.
England got on the board first when Anthony Gordon scored in the 55th minute, but Argentina kept pushing forward relentlessly. Enzo Fernandez pulled Argentina level, and then Lautaro Martinez delivered the winning goal deep into added time.
“We played a good game for the large majority of it. Once we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on,” Kane said in an interview with the BBC.
“At this level, it’s not enough, so just gutted, gutted because we’ve worked so hard to be here and the lads have given every last bit of running, sweat, blood, tears, whatever it is.”
Kane went on to describe how Argentina’s relentless pressure overwhelmed England’s defense after the equalizer. “After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us just not being able to match them man for man, it just was wave after wave and we were trying to hold on as we were putting blocks in. But in the end, it wasn’t enough.”
England has not appeared in a World Cup final since capturing the title back in 1966. Manager Thomas Tuchel’s squad came tantalizingly close before suffering a familiar and painful exit.
Kane reflected on the team’s mindset after going ahead, noting that the message in the locker room was to push for a second goal rather than sit back. “The boys are always ready for any moment in the game. When we went ahead, the messaging was to go again and get another goal,” he said.
“Then obviously once they scored their two goals, it was to try and find something, but we couldn’t quite get the momentum back in the game.”
Despite the loss, Kane acknowledged the positive moments England had throughout the tournament. “We had a lot of good moments in this tournament. A lot of good games, another semi-final. We talk about knocking on the door. We’re close, we just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament.”
He closed with an emotional message: “Just gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone, the team, the staff, the fans.”
