Harry Kane Opens Up On His Penalty Miss Which Led To England’s World Cup Exit After France Defeat.

Harry Kane has taken responsibility for England’s World Cup quarter-final elimination after France won the Three Lions 2-1 at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday night.

Having reached the semi-finals in the 2018 World Cup,and then finishing runners-up at last year's European Championship, Gareth Southgate's men were confident of defeating the reigning champions France and clinch a ticket to the semi-final of the 2022 World Cup.

It happened that England were awarded a penalty after Bukayo Saka was brought down in the box, and Kane stepped up. He slammed the ball into the left corner, sending his Tottenham teammate Hugo Lloris the wrong way as they equalised Aurelien Tchouaméni opener for France earlier on.

The spot kick was Kane's 53rd strike for England in just 80 appearances, which made him the country's joint top goalscorer alongside Wayne Rooney (53).

Kane scored his first England goal 79 seconds into his debut in 2015 - the year before Rooney netted his last.

Olivier Giroud's deflected header had put France back ahead.

England were given a golden opportunity to take the game to extra time after Theo Hernandez barged over Mason Mount in France’s penalty area.

But Kane, who had pulled England level from the penalty spot in the 54th minute, stepped up and blazed his second effort high over the crossbar in the 84th minute, prompting many fans to put their head in their hands and watch on in silence.

His miss came with just seven minutes of normal time remaining, ending in an agonising 2-1 loss for the Three Lions.

The 29-year-old was visibly distraught at the full-time whistle and was consoled by his England teammates and manager Gareth Southgate.

"I will take it on the chin and of course it hurts now, and it will hurt for a long time, but that's part of being captain and a leader in the team."... Harry Kane said in the aftermath of defeat.

"It is a really tough night to take.

"I'm gutted, the team are gutted. We had full belief that we could achieve something special at this World Cup but it came down to small details."

He continued: "I thought on the night we had the better chances and better spells in the game. It comes down to execution. As captain, I take it on the chin and responsibility missing the penalty.

"It is hard to take for sure but I can be proud of the group, proud of each other for what we've done. This will hurt for a while but we will dust ourselves down to get ready in the future."

Kane insisted England's players are in full support of their boss, saying: "We love having Gareth as a manager."

He added: "We want him to stay for sure but that's his decision. I am sure he will go away and think about that.

"We've got a great team, great young players, players coming into their prime and we've got a Euros not too far away. As much as this hurts, we have to move on and look forward to that."

England boss Gareth Southgate added: "As you would expect, Harry is very, very low, but he has nothing to reproach himself for. We are in the position we are because of his leadership and goals.

"We win and lose as a team. He's been incredible for us and reliable in those situations; we wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him."

You may recall that, the England captain, Harry Kane, won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, having scored a total of six goals, two more than second placed Lukaku, Griezmann, Cheryshev, Mbappe, and Cristiano Ronaldo who all finished the tournament with four goals each.

With that award, Kane became only the third Englishman to win a Golden Boot at a major tournament, along with Gary Lineker at the 1986 World Cup and Alan Shearer at the European Championship in 1996.

England's Top Goalscorers Of All Time:

• Harry Kane (2015-present):

53 - Goals

80 - Games

• Wayne Rooney (2003-2018):

53 - Goals

120 - Games

• Bobby Charlton (1958-1970):

49 - Goals 

106 - Games

• Gary Lineker (1984-1992):

48 - Goals

80 - Games

• Jimmy Greaves (1959-1967):

44 - Goals

57 - Games

• Michael Owen (1998-2008):

40 - Goals

89 - Games

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