Harry Kane left ‘gutted’ after Argentina defeat, says England need ‘missing piece’ to win major titles

England captain Harry Kane admitted the Three Lions are still searching for the “missing piece” that can carry them over the line at major tournaments after a 2-1 defeat to Argentina ended their FIFA World Cup campaign in the semifinals.

England looked set for a first World Cup final appearance since 1966 after Anthony Gordon converted Morgan Rogers’ cross early in the second half. But the defending champions fought back through Enzo Fernandez before Lautaro Martinez struck deep into stoppage time to send Argentina into Sunday’s final against Spain.

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The defeat marked England’s third World Cup semifinal exit, following heartbreaks in 1990 and 2018. Thomas Tuchel’s side will now face France in the third-place play-off on Sunday (IST).

‘Need to find that missing piece’: Harry Kane

Reflecting on another near miss, Kane said England have shown they belong among the world’s best but must discover what is lacking in the biggest moments.

“We had a lot of good moments in this tournament, a lot of good games, and another semi-final,” Kane said. “We talk about knocking on the door, we are close. We just need to find that missing piece in the final stage of the tournament.

“These tournaments take it out of you—so much effort, pressure and mentality—and we have shown a lot of that over the six or seven weeks we have been together. But we are just missing that final piece.”

The England skipper was left devastated after seeing his side surrender a one-goal lead despite controlling large spells of the contest.

“I’m just gutted. Gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone,” Kane said. “We played a good game for the large majority of it. When we went 1-0 up, we seemed to just try and hold on, which at this level isn’t enough.

“We’ve worked so hard to be here. The lads have given every last bit of running, sweat, blood and tears. To fall short like we did today is just gutting.”

Kane felt England’s inability to sustain their aggressive pressing after taking the lead allowed Argentina to seize control.

“We struggled to get pressure on the ball. In the first half and at the start of the second half we pressed them well and put them under loads of pressure,” he said.

“After the goal, whether it was them committing more players forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave. The boys were always ready for any moment, and when we went ahead the message was to go again and get another goal.

“But once they scored twice, we couldn’t quite get the momentum back.”