England and France played in what was perhaps one of the best games so far in the World Cup. Great goals, a total 13 shots on target, two penalties and amazing saves by the goalkeepers.
Hugo Lloris had six saves against England.
Captain stepped up pic.twitter.com/Vasb9XG69Q— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 10, 2022
The older the game got, the better it was getting and when we thought the game would go on for an extra thirty minutes, well… you’ve probably already seen the rest.
Harry Kane skies penalty kick that would have made him England’s all-time goalscorer
Harry Kane converted England’s first and only goal of the game when he successfully got one past his club teammate Hugo Lloris from the penalty spot.
The captain put them back into the game.
Calm, cool, and collected
There was no stopping this Harry Kane penalty kick pic.twitter.com/fa4i1nc4bO— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 10, 2022
A classic Kane-way of taking a penalty kick that put him level to Wayne Rooney’s 53 goals for the Three Lions.
Harry Kane was the first player to celebrate with Wayne Rooney when he became England’s top scorer, now he’s equaled him on 53 goals pic.twitter.com/49h5G8HSQE
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 10, 2022
30 minutes later, and when England probably needed a goal the most, the Tottenham Hotspur star got the opportunity to break the record and put England level. Then, in a very England-way, the striker booted his penalty into the stands and denied himself the record and the momentary 2-2 draw.
HARRY KANE MISSES THE PENALTY pic.twitter.com/UwDpI8qXpQ
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) December 10, 2022
This was Harry Kane’s 11th penalty miss in his career, but coincidentally the only time he failed from the penalty spot and ended up losing the game (seven wins, and three ties).
What If?: Harry Kane edition
The 29-year-old is no stranger to ‘selling’ in big moments at the international stage.
In the 2018 Russia World Cup, Harry Kane missed two big back-to-back chances when England were defeating Croatia 1-0 in the first half of the semifinal.
Going 2-0 so early in a World Cup semifinal would’ve definitely increased the Lions’ chances of going through, and if Kane hadn’t missed, then we would have most likely seen England gone head-to-head with France in the 2018 final.
Would a second penalty goal against France on Saturday changed the final outcome of the game?