“One Of The Best Ever” — Kane Admits Messi Brutally Ended England’s World Cup Dream
England captain Harry Kane admitted Lionel Messi showed exactly why he is “one of the best players ever” after the Argentine maestro inspired a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory that ended England’s FIFA World Cup dream and sent Argentina into a second successive final.
England looked on course for a famous victory after taking a deserved 1-0 lead and controlling much of Wednesday’s semifinal. However, Messi once again proved decisive in the closing stages, creating both goals as Argentina fought back to secure a dramatic 2-1 victory.
The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner first set up Enzo Fernández for the equaliser in the 85th minute before producing another moment of brilliance seven minutes later, assisting Lautaro Martínez for the winner in the 92nd minute to book Argentina’s place in Sunday’s final against Spain.
Reflecting on Messi’s influence, Kane admitted England had largely contained the legendary forward before he punished them late in the match.
“Yeah, I felt like for large parts of the game we dealt with him (Messi) really well,” Kane said.
“But, as always with the most dangerous players in the world, when they have the ball in the final third, they can create something. And he did that again today.
“He’s obviously one of the best players ever for a reason. As I said, it was disappointing that we gave up the space we did in those final 20 minutes.
“We allowed not just him, but the other players, the other ball players, to grow into the game, feel more confident and get the ball into dangerous areas. In the end, it was too much for us to stop.”
Messi’s latest masterclass continued an extraordinary World Cup campaign. It was the second time he had inspired Argentina to come from behind to win a match at the tournament. In the Round of 16, he scored once as Argentina recovered from 2-0 down to beat Egypt 3-2.
The 39-year-old has now either scored or assisted in every Argentina match at this year’s World Cup. He is the tournament’s joint-leading scorer with eight goals alongside France captain Kylian Mbappé, while also contributing four assists.
Messi is also the only player to have won five Player of the Match awards during the tournament, underlining his influence as Argentina chase back-to-back World Cup titles.
Kane also reflected on England’s overall performance, admitting his side failed to maintain their momentum after taking the lead.
“Yeah, a similar story to what’s happened in previous tournaments,” he said.
“I feel like we struggled to keep the momentum of the game. We’d done so well for around 60 minutes. We scored, and we deserved to be ahead.
“Then, for one reason or another, we struggled to keep the ball, we struggled to put pressure on it, and we just allowed them to build momentum.
“That created more attacks for them in our final third. Then it’s the natural mindset to try to hang on to a one-goal lead, but with 20 minutes plus stoppage time still to play, it was always going to be a long period to defend.
“We’re going to have to watch the game back and figure out exactly how we can improve in those situations. It’s probably been the missing piece for us over the last four or five tournaments.”
England will now turn their attention to Saturday’s third-place playoff against France, where they will battle for the bronze medals.
Argentina, meanwhile, will face Spain in Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final as Messi looks to lead his country to a second consecutive world title.
The Argentine superstar will also be aiming to win the tournament’s Golden Ball for a third time. He first claimed the award at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil despite Argentina finishing runners-up, before winning it again during the nation’s triumphant 2022 campaign in Qatar.
