Harry Kane’s late penalty miss dooms England in World Cup loss to France

This week, the English have two disappointing Harrys.

And though this one didn’t get as far as a penalty shootout, it was a penalty kick that will live in infamy after Harry Kane hit an 84th minute try from the spot over the crossbar, letting France hang onto a 2-1 lead that ended up being the final score of the World Cup quarterfinal between the two ancient rivals.

France will go on to play Morocco in the semifinal. England will go on to question how, yet again, they let an opportunity at a major tournament fall through the cracks via a penalty miss.

This one will go down in the same lore along with the disastrous penalty shootout in last summer’s European championship against Italy and the 1990 World Cup semifinal against West Germany. Kane, who had the chance to quell British nerves with an equalizer after Mason Mount was ruled to have been brought down illegally in the penalty box by Theo Hernandez, may never live the miss down.

It is cruel, given that Kane had scored from the penalty spot on 54 minutes to tie the game at one and that England had dominated much of the second half before Olivier Giroud’s header on 78 minutes put France ahead. This squad has shown so much promise and will need to wait at least two more years before its next crack at a major international trophy — which, for those counting, (which would include just about the country’s entire population) will make it 58 trips around the sun since that World Cup victory of 1966.

The last, desperate chance for England came on a free kick just outside the box taken as the clock struck 100 minutes. Unlike The Netherlands on Friday, there was no magic to be had — Marcus Rashford’s try dipped over the wall and hit the back stanchion of the net, just barely high. It turned out to be the game’s final kick, and Kane put his head in his hands, crouching down in disbelief.

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After six years of Gareth Southgate in charge, in which perennially underachieving England have competed for international titles, questions now must be asked about Southgate’s future, as well as how the squad can avoid another disappointment two years from now. The conversation right now, though, will center around Kane and harken back to Rashford and Bukayo Saka, who missed decisive kicks last summer. 

The question will be, how could this happen again?

It will center around the existentialism of England, to whom this always seems to happen, and the effervescence of France, who look poised to make a second straight final if they can get past Morocco in a semifinal packed with historical analogy. 

Somewhere in that discourse will be the name of Aurélien Tchouaméni, who uncorked a missile of a goal in the 17th minute and continues to be a revelation in midfield for a team that is missing N’Golo Kante and Paul Pogba — its twin pillars during the title run four years ago.

So, too, will the name Kylian Mbappé, who looks poised to repeat Pelé’s feat of twin World Cup titles, which he did with Brazil back in 1958 and 1962. 

No country has done it since and no manager has won two in a row since Italy’s Vittorio Pozzo in 1934 and 1938. Didier Deschamps could soon join his name to that slice of history.

And yet, as all England losses tend to do, this one feels more about the losers than the winners. 

Unlike the pre-Southgate era England teams, this one did not look so crushed under the weight of expectation. But the matter of tragedy tends to matter less than the fact of its mere existence.

And England will be contending with that for at least a while longer.