Harry Kane explains why England could not beat Argentina in World Cup semi-final

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Evening Standard

15 July 2026

Three Lions captain admits team did not carry out Thomas Tuchel’s instructions

Harry Kane

said

England

failed to capitalise on their lead as they were knocked out of the

World Cup

semi-finals by

Argentina

went ahead shortly after half-time

through Anthony Gordon as they looked to book their place in the

final for the first time since 1966.

But they sat back to defend the lead and

ultimately fell victim to another late comeback from Argentina

, who scored late on through Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez to turn the tie around.

England captain Kane fronted up for media duties at full-time, saying he was “gutted” to have been knocked out after such a promising campaign - but acknowledged

were “not good enough” on the day.

"Gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone - the team, the staff, the fans,” the

Bayern Munich

man told BBC Sport.

"We played a good game, the large majority of it. When we went 1-0 up we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough.

“So, just gutted because we've worked so hard to be here and the lads have given every last bit of running, blood, sweat, tears. To fall short is just gutting.”

He continued, saying Thomas Tuchel’s instruction was to continue pressurising

after Gordon’s opener, despite

appearing to drop back and dig in.

“The boys are always ready for any moment in the game,” he said. “When we went ahead the messaging was to go again and get another goal.

"Then once they scored their two goals (the instruction) was to try and find something but we couldn't quite get the momentum back in the game."

England still have one more match to play at the

despite being eliminated here. They will face France in the third-place play-off on Saturday in Miami.

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