England captain Harry Kane says the Three Lions still have room to improve as they prepare for one of their biggest matches in years against Argentina in the 2026 FIFA World Cup semifinals.
England meets defending champion Argentina on Wednesday, July 15, with a place in the World Cup final on the line. The matchup renews one of international soccer’s most famous rivalries, marking the first meeting between the two nations since 2005 and their first competitive meeting since the 2002 World Cup.
Speaking ahead of the semifinal, Kane acknowledged England has not yet reached its highest level but said the squad believes its best performance could still be ahead.
Harry Kane Says England Is Still Chasing One Final Step
Kane reflected on England’s recent success while making it clear the team is focused on taking the final step toward winning a major tournament.
“It’s been an extremely successful era of our national team. Of course, we want to get over the line. That is the missing piece now,” Kane said.
“We’re knocking on the door. We’re getting to these semi-finals and finals. It’s a big week. We’ve got eight days left on this tournament.
“We’ve been together six weeks and shown every bit of desire for the badge and we’re going to need an even bigger push now for the last week or so.
“Ultimately we are in a semi-final of the World Cup and that has not always been the case for this national team so we have to enjoy it.”
England advanced after requiring extra time in its quarterfinal victory, while Argentina also needed extra time to book its place in the semifinals. Three Lions manager Thomas Tuchel said afterward that he expected a stronger performance from his squad in the next round.
Kane agreed there is another level England can reach.
England’s Captain Believes Better Performances Are Still to Come
The England striker said the players understand they have not yet produced their complete performance during the tournament.
“We haven’t seen that yet, we’ve shown it in glimpses. Against Norway it was in glimpses,” Kane said.
“But we haven’t had full control that we would like and I feel we can have. But at this stage of the tournament you are playing against the best teams in the world.
“We’ll be playing against one of the best teams in the world in the semi-final, so the most pleasing thing is that we are in a semi-final and we can still feel like we can improve.
“But I don’t think it is something to get really over the top about. We are showing a lot of good things.”
Argentina comes into the semifinal as the defending World Cup champion. While Lionel Scaloni’s squad has looked impressive, it has yet to face an opponent ranked higher than No. 19 in the FIFA rankings, making England its biggest challenge of the tournament yet.
Lionel Messi and Harry Kane Continue Golden Boot Race
Wednesday’s semifinal also features two of the tournament’s top scorers.
Lionel Messi enters the match with eight goals, leading Kane’s six in the race for the Golden Boot. Messi has averaged 1.4 goals per 90 minutes compared to Kane’s 1.0 and owns a higher expected goals (xG) total of 5.3 to Kane’s 3.5.
Messi has also contributed two assists, created 21 scoring chances, and carries an expected assists (xA) mark of 3.4. Kane has one assist, five chances created, and an xA of 1.0.
The Argentine star averages 72.8 touches per match compared to Kane’s 27.3, reflecting Messi’s deeper role across multiple attacking positions while Kane primarily operates as a central striker.
England’s Harry Kane Sends Clear Message to Argentina Before World Cup Semifinal Showdown