Kane misses golden chance

England captain Harry Kane will likely go home from the Fifa World Cup with the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and a burnished reputation as a feared forward.

Had Kane added to his six goals in Russia with either of his back-to-back chances in the second half against Croatia yesterday, when England was dominating and led 1-0, he could yet be lifting the trophy.

Or the header in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes when the score was 1-1 and a goal would likely have brought England back to Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium for the final against France on Monday (NZ time). Rising high at the back post to meet another precise free kick from Kieran Trippier, Kane misconnected and the ball bounced wide of the goal. It was an opportunity lost.

England would walk away from Russia 2018 with dignity though after progressing further than expected.

‘‘It’s been great to get to this stage but we wanted to keep going. We wanted to win it all,’’ Kane said. ‘‘It hurts. I don’t know what else to say. It just hurts.’’

When Kane got his best chance in the 30th minute against Croatia, his first shot was saved by goalkeeper Danijel Subasic. The ball rebounded almost out of the play, then sat up for Kane to take another shot from less than two metres. The ball hit the post, ricocheted off Subasic and somehow looped up to safety. An offside was called for the proceeding play so it wouldn’t have counted anyway.

Kane would not get another such opportunity with the ball at his feet. And Croatia would never let England get so close again.

Mario Mandzukic shot past England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 109th minute and Croatia closed out a 2-1 victory to reach their first World Cup final.

It meant another World Cup semifinal heartbreaker for England, only this time the game was under control before it was lost.