The 1-2 defeat to Argentina in the semi-finals of the 2026 World Cup caused England to miss the opportunity to reach the final. After the match, captain Harry Kane praised Lionel Messi, and admitted that the "Three Lions" could not stop the influence of the Argentine superstar.
Despite leading until the 84th minute, England still let Argentina come back with goals from Enzo Fernandez and Lautaro Martinez. Notably, Lionel Messi both made his mark in two situations leading to goals when making decisive passes opening up opportunities for his teammates to score.
After the match, Kane assessed that England had prepared carefully to limit Messi, but still could not prevent the 39-year-old player from making a difference.
For most of the match, we controlled him quite well. England did everything to stop Messi, but as always, just having the ball in the area of one-third of the baseline, he always makes a difference. That's why Messi is a great player," Kane shared.
At the 2026 World Cup, Messi continues to show impressive form when scoring 8 goals and having 4 assists, directly contributing to Argentina's 12 goals. This achievement surpasses the personal mark he once set at the 2022 World Cup.
Besides praising the opponent, Kane also regretted that England lost the advantage in the final minutes. According to the striker currently playing for Bayern Munich, the whole team played hard but could not maintain the game after Argentina increased the pressure.
Coach Thomas Tuchel also admitted that England played too passively after the opening goal. The German strategist said that switching to a 5-defender system was to improve the ability to defend against high balls, but the team no longer maintained pressure and gradually lost control of the match.
According to statistics, since the opening goal in the 55th minute, England only controlled the ball about 12%, while Argentina held the ball up to 88%. The South American team continuously put pressure and created great pressure before completing the comeback in injury time.
Kane said that England's initial plan was not just to retreat deep to defend.
When leading, our message was to continue attacking to find a second goal. But after Argentina equalized, we could not regain the pace of the match. We were very close to the goal but still a little short of reaching the finish line," the England captain said.
When asked about his ability to participate in the 2030 World Cup, Kane said it was too early to make a decision. The 33-year-old striker affirmed that he still loves the England national team jersey and sees Messi's continued maintenance of class at the age of 39 as a source of motivation to continue striving in the coming years.
