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Published 10 June 2025 3 min read
England Men's Senior Team

No excuses for defeat, says Kane

Written by:

Holly Hunt

Three Lions captain assesses Tuesday's defeat against Senegal

MATCH CENTRE: ENGLAND 1-3 SENEGAL

England captain Harry Kane reflected on a disappointing result as the Three Lions fell short against Senegal, beaten at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground to round off the June international camp.

The Three Lions’ all-time top goalscorer netted his 73rd goal on his 107th appearance to open the scoring in the first half but Senegal hit back to run out 3-1 winners in the East Midlands.

“Again, not really good enough,” said Kane. “I think we had moments, but just both with and without the ball, things just aren't quite clicking.

“We aren't quite finding the right passes or the fight tempo. One v one, we’re losing duels, we’re losing that aggressive nature that we've had.

“We got punished. We were playing against a good side. But again, too much that just wasn’t good enough today.”

Kane added to his England tally early on, but it was Senegal who took home the victory
Thomas Tuchel’s side were denied an equaliser – which would’ve levelled proceedings – after Jude Bellingham saw his effort ruled out for handball late in the second half.

And Kane, who explained that the goal could have marked a turning point for England, analysed the decision in the aftermath of the game.

“It obviously gets us back in the game at 2-2 and maybe we go on and win the game, so it is quite a big moment, but that's something to discuss with them [the officials] after," he added.

After seeing off Andorra 1-0 to make it three wins from three in their World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday before following that result up with tonight’s defeat, Kane insisted England are fully aware there is room for improvement with next summer’s World Cup in the not-too-distant future.

“We’re not going to panic, but for sure we know that we need to be better,” explained Kane. “There are some ideas that are new for the guys, we have new players coming into the team who haven't got experience it international level.

“It's a mixture of things, but it's no excuses, we need to find it [a solution] quick. We're not going to meet again for a couple of months, but the World Cup is going to come around really fast, so every camp is really important right now.”