England ‘have another level we can reach,’ says Kane ahead of World Cup semi-final

Captain Harry Kane has admitted that England “have another level we can reach” as they prepare for a World Cup semi-final against Argentina on Wednesday, aiming to win the tournament for the first time since 1966. The Three Lions needed extra-time to beat Norway 2-1 in the quarter-finals, with Jude Bellingham scoring the winner in a performance that left manager Thomas Tuchel frustrated.

After the match, Tuchel said he was unhappy with England’s performance, describing the team as “sloppy” and making “a lot of technical mistakes,” adding that they “got lucky.” Kane, 32, who has scored six goals in the tournament and is England’s joint top goalscorer alongside Bellingham, acknowledged the manager’s frustrations but stressed that the team knows they can improve.

“When he sees us train and sees the closeness of us and sees what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and the skills, he just wants to see that version of us,” Kane said. “He knows as much as anyone that it’s not as simple as that, we’re playing against good opposition and good teams. He’s trying to drag it out of us and we know ourselves we have another level we can reach. We haven’t seen that yet, we’ve shown it in glimpses. Against Norway it was in glimpses. But we haven’t had full control that we would like and I feel we can have.”

Kane also defended the team’s performance, noting the quality of the opposition. “Maybe he [Tuchel] doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa and Alexander Sorloth. They’re not an easy team to play against. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads.”

England will be playing in the World Cup semi-finals for only the fourth time, having lost at that stage to West Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018. They have also lost in the finals of the past two European Championships. “It’s been an extremely successful era of our national team,” Kane added. “Of course, we want to get over the line. That is the missing piece now. We’re knocking on the door. We’re getting to these semi-finals and finals. It’s a big week. We’ve got eight days left on this tournament. We’ve been together six weeks and shown every bit of desire for the badge and we’re going to need an even bigger push now for the last week or so. Ultimately we are in a semi-final of the World Cup and that has not always been the case for this national team, so we have to enjoy it.”