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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.
