England captain Harry Kane has admitted the team are “missing that final piece of the jigsaw” after being knocked out of the World Cup by Argentina in a crushing 2-1 semi-final defeat in Atlanta. Anthony Gordon had put the Three Lions ahead after 55 minutes, but Thomas Tuchel’s side dropped deep, inviting pressure that eventually told when Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martínez scored late on to turn the game on its head.
“No words are big enough right now to overcome this empty feeling in the stomach,” Kane wrote on social media. “We were close, really close to another final but it wasn’t enough. We’ve given everything over these last seven weeks and to fall short is hard to take. I know the expectations are high and rightly so, we’ve been knocking on the door for eight years now but again are missing that final piece of the jigsaw. That’s where we have to go away, process it and find a way to get better.”
“Captain Harry Kane says England are 'missing that final piece of the jigsaw' after 2-1 semi-final defeat to Argentina.”
Former England captain Wayne Rooney did not hold back, saying Tuchel’s side “crumbled” and became “too passive” after taking the lead. The manager faced heavy criticism for his defensive substitutions, with England registering only 12% possession from the moment they went ahead until Argentina’s winner in the 92nd minute. Several sources indicated to BBC Sport that a clutch of key players were left bitterly disappointed by how the team approached the final stages.
Tuchel, however, insisted it had never been the plan to sit back. “It’s maybe not in our DNA… to control the game and ball,” he said. It is a familiar complaint. Under Gareth Southgate, England went 1-0 up in the Euro 2021 final against Italy, then conceded and lost on penalties. They also lost a World Cup semi-final to Croatia in 2018 and were beaten by Spain in the Euro 2024 final. Opta statistics show that since 1998, England have been eliminated every time they have faced a top-10 ranked nation in the knockout stages of the World Cup.
For Kane, who scored six goals and registered one assist during the tournament, the pain is raw. The question now – as Jude Bellingham called for unity – is whether Tuchel can find the final piece that has eluded England for so long.
