England squandered an opportunity to end its 60-year World Cup drought when it was unable to hold a 1-0 lead over Argentina en route to suffering a brutal 2-1 defeat in its semifinal on Wednesday.
England captain and striker Harry Kane will turn 33 years old later in July, so it’s understandable to wonder if he will be part of his nation’s next World Cup squad. Following Wednesday’s loss, Kane responded carefully when asked about the subject.
Why Lionel Messi may give Harry Kane hope for future World Cup starts
According to Oliver Kay of The Athletic and Tom Hamilton of ESPN, Kane said that it was “too early to talk about” whether or not this might be his last World Cup.
“I’m taking it year by year, and the national team is my pride and joy,” Kane continued. “It’s what I love to do most, more than anything. Obviously, four years is a long way away. I’m 33 this summer, but it never ended with [Lionel Messi] there. He’s still performing at the highest level. I never want to put a limit on these things. I’ll address situations as they come, but for now it’s just about processing a tough loss.”
As Kane referenced, Messi turned 39 years old in June. The Argentina superstar earned his fifth Man of the Match Award for this World Cup on Wednesday.
Harry Kane reflects on the latest England heartbreak
As Hamilton mentioned in a different piece, Kane was first picked as England captain for the 2018 World Cup. Since that time, England has fallen in the semifinals of the 2018 World Cup, the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup, the final of the Euros in 2021 and the final of the 2024 European Championship.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has received plenty of blame for his tactics after his side took a 1-0 lead on Wednesday. Specifically, Jack Pitt-Brooke of The Athletic and others noted that England had just 12 percent possession from the game’s opening goal in the 55th minute until Argentina’s equalizer in the 85th minute.
“It’s a similar story to what’s happened in previous tournaments, I feel like,” Kane said about England’s latest defeat. “We managed the momentum of the game so well for 60 minutes, we scored and got ahead. And then, for one reason or another, we struggled to be on the ball. We struggled to put pressure on the ball, and it allowed them to create more momentum and created more attacks for them in our final third. It’s a normal mindset to try to hang on and try and hold on to the one-goal lead, but you know, we’re still 20 minutes out, so there’s going to be enough time there [for Argentina to score]. We’ll have to watch the game back and find out exactly how we can improve in those situations, but it’s been probably the missing piece now for the last four tournaments.”
It remains to be seen what Kane will be up to the next time a World Cup gets underway. Perhaps he will be preparing to take part in an NFL training camp as a placekicker.