England captain Harry Kane's hopes of World Cup glory could be over following 2026 semi-final heartache

Former England defender and assistant coach Gary Neville believes that Harry Kane's opportunity to win the World Cup before the end of his career has now passed.

Kane has scored six times at the 2026 World Cup, but the Bayern Munich striker was unable to help the Three Lions overcome Argentina in the semi-finals of the competition on Wednesday.

The England captain will be 36 at the 2030 World Cup, and Neville is finding it difficult to imagine the striker representing his country at the next competition.

"It's a massive disappointment. But is it worse than the two finals in the last five tournaments? Some of them got knocked out of a semi-final in Russia in 2018. These players have taken us very close over the last six, seven or eight years," Neville told Sky Sports News.

"It won't be popular this morning, but their achievements have been great. They just haven't been able to get over the line and that will cause them great pain. Being five minutes away from a World Cup final will live with them forever.

Kane's chances of World Cup glory could now be over

"The closest I've ever come to crying on a football pitch was in 2006 when we got knocked out of the World Cup quarter-final against Portugal. I was 31 and recognised that I was never going to play in a World Cup again, and my time had gone. I can still feel the emotion inside of me about that moment. I can still think about being there.

"Harry Kane at 32 will probably recognise that it's his last ever World Cup. For John Stones, Jordan Pickford who are in their 30s, they will feel extremely emotional and so disappointed, gutted and dejected this morning that you can't even imagine it. They will be sunk in their rooms, as low as you can possibly get.

"If England fans want any comfort, it's that those England players will be suffering badly over the next couple of days and weeks. It will never leave them, it never does. But Argentina were the better team. From the moment our goal went in, they were so much better than us."

Kane unsure whether he will feature at 2030 World Cup

Kane was asked about his future immediately after the semi-final defeat and said that it was "too early" to judge whether he would be involved in the 2030 World Cup.

"It's too early to talk about that. For me, it's about taking it year by year and how I feel," Kane told BBC Sport. "The national team is my pride and joy, it's what I love to do most.

"Four years is a long way away and I'm 33 in the summer, but as you see with Leo [Messi], he's still performing at the highest level [at 39]. I never want to put a limit on these things. For now, it's about processing another tough loss."

Kane could still win the Golden Boot at the 2026 World Cup, with England set to take on France in a third-placed playoff clash on Saturday.

The striker is England's all-time leading goalscorer with 85, while he now sits second in the all-time appearance list (121) behind Peter Shilton (125).

Kane has 14 goals in the World Cup, meanwhile, which has left him joint-fifth on the all-time list, some seven goals behind Lionel Messi.