England captain Harry Kane has admitted that Tuesday night’s 3–1 defeat to Senegal fell well below the national team’s standards, calling the performance “not good enough” in the wake of a historic result at the City Ground.
The friendly, which ended in a resounding victory for the African champions, marked the first time an African nation had beaten England at senior level.
Kane had initially put England ahead, but Senegal responded with three unanswered goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly to seal a famous win.
Speaking to ITV after the match, Kane expressed his disappointment and concern over the direction of England’s performances in recent matches.
“Not good enough. We had moments, but with and without the ball things aren’t clicking, we’re not finding the right tempo. We’ve lost that aggressive nature that we had,” the striker said.
The result adds to England’s growing list of underwhelming displays, with fans and pundits beginning to question the side’s tactical cohesion and consistency ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Kane also addressed a disallowed goal by Jude Bellingham that could have changed the complexion of the game. “
If you know the rules it’s not handball. That gets us back in the game and maybe we can go on and win the game, so it’s a big moment. It’s something we will discuss later,” he remarked.
With time ticking toward major international commitments, Kane emphasised the need for immediate improvement.
“We’re not going to panic but we know we need to be better. New ideas, there’s new players coming into the team that don’t have experience at international level.
“It’s a mixture of things but no excuses. We need to find it quick, the World Cup is going to come around really fast so every camp is really important right now.”
