Gareth Southgate says that England were aiming to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup and that he will review and reflect on his future as manager after his side’s 2-1 defeat to France in the quarter-finals.
After going 2-1 down, Harry Kane had the chance to level the score from the spot. The England captain, however, failed to even force Hugo Lloris into a save, skying his effort above the bar, and despite being dominant in large spells of the match, England failed to capitalise, said Southgate after the defeat.
“I think the performance did [deserve better]. In the end, goals are decisive. I’ve just said to the players they couldn’t give any more. Fine margins. Things at both ends that have decided the game. I’m proud of the way they’ve been through the tournament.
“It’s key moments. In most of the big moments, we were in the right place. It’s a game of fine margins. We were here to try to win the tournament – we had belief we could. We’ve got a team that could have done that.”
When asked about Kane’s penalty miss, Southgate stood by his player, saying: “For me, we win and lose as a team. We let two [goals] in and missed chances. Harry [Kane] has been incredible for us. So reliable. We wouldn’t be here if not for the goals he’s scored for us.”
Southgate has now been in charge of England for three major tournaments, and when questioned as to whether he will lead the team into the next Euros competition, he said: “After every tournament, we’ve sat down and reviewed and reflected. So we need a bit of time to make sure everyone makes the right decisions.”
England may feel that some decisions did not go their way in the quarter-final, including a penalty shout in the first half, and a foul on Bukayo Saka in the lead-up to France’s goal, but Southgate was not interested in passing on any blame, saying: “Pointless me going into that [the referee]. I’d rather talk about our players. Congratulations to France. They know they’ve been in a hell of a game. I don’t think we could have done any more.”
Jordan Henderson also spoke after the match, telling ITV that the match was “hard to sum up.”
“It’s difficult to find the words. We gave everything in the game. We were disappointed to go 1-0 down, but we showed the character and mentality to keep going and find the equaliser. I can’t say any more. We gave it everything, and unfortunately, it wasn’t our night.
“The focus and hunger was good every single day. It wasn’t our night. You’ve got to give credit to France. But I still felt like it was there for us tonight.”
When asked about Kane missing the penalty, he said: “How many penalties has Harry scored for us? The goals he’s scored for us to even get here. He’s a world-class striker. Our captain. We wouldn’t be here without him. He’ll be stronger for this in the future. He is a world-class striker and our captain; he will bounce back.”
France will now take on Morocco in the semi-final on December 14th for a spot in the final against either Argentina or Croatia.
