England captain Harry Kane has called for urgent improvement following a 3-1 defeat to Senegal in a friendly on Tuesday — the Three Lions’ first-ever loss to African opposition.
The result adds pressure on new manager Thomas Tuchel, just four games into his tenure. England had narrowly edged past Andorra 1-0 in a World Cup qualifier days earlier, and sweeping changes to the line-up did little to lift the performance in Nottingham. Senegal took full advantage, with goals from Ismaila Sarr, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly securing a deserved win.
Kane, who scored his 73rd goal for England to open the scoring, admitted the performance wasn’t good enough.
“We had moments, but with and without the ball things aren’t clicking,” said the Bayern Munich forward. “We’ve lost that aggressive nature that we had.”
Tuchel, brought in to push England beyond the near-misses under Gareth Southgate, has faced early struggles. While Southgate led the team to two Euros finals and strong World Cup showings, Tuchel is still finding his footing.
Kane acknowledged the team is in a transitional phase since Southgate’s departure but said the clock is ticking with the 2026 World Cup fast approaching.
“We’re not going to panic, but we know we need to be better,” he said. “There are new ideas, new players without international experience — but no excuses. We need to find it quick.”
Despite the setbacks, England remain in a strong position in World Cup qualifying, having won their three matches against Albania, Latvia and Andorra.
