Harry Kane took responsibility for England’s World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of France and has given manager Gareth Southgate his full backing.
England captain Kane skied a penalty as France won 2-1 at Al Bayt Stadium to set up a semi-final clash with Morocco.
Having earlier cancelled out Aurelien Tchouameni’s fine opening strike with a well-taken spot-kick, equalling Wayne Rooney’s England scoring record in the process, Kane blazed over a second after Olivier Giroud’s deflected header had put France back ahead.
His 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 in the aftermath of the loss.
“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.”
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