Harry Kane takes responsibility for England’s elimination

Harry Kane took responsibility for England’s World Cup quarter-final elimination after sending a second-half penalty over the bar as France won 2-1 at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday.

The win for Didier Deschamps’ side has set them up with a semi-final clash with Morocco.

England equalised thanks to a Kane penalty after Aurélien Tchouaméni’s opener. The Tottenham forward equalled Wayne Rooney’s England scoring record from the spot, before blazing over his second penalty of the night.

Olivier Giroud scored France’s winning goal after seeing his deflected header fly past Jordan Pickford.

Kane’s spot-kick miss came with just seven minutes of normal time remaining as England failed to make it to consecutive World Cup semi-finals for the first time.

“It is a really tough night to take,” Kane said post-match.

“I am 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.

“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 takes responsibility

“I am someone who if I prepare, I prepare for whether I get one or two penalties,” he said.

“I can’t fault my preparation or detail in the lead-up. I felt as confident on the first as I did the second.

“It comes purely down to execution so 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.

“You have to take responsibility and I will take that for today.”