Harry Kane has described England’s World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina as his most painful tournament exit because of how the team lost sight of who they were. The captain is determined to move on as quickly as possible and is chasing a statement performance against Spain at Wembley on Saturday night in the Nations League. But he admits he is yet to get over the Argentina game and knows it is something he and his teammates must work to process.

“It felt like it wasn’t us as a team,” Kane said, as he reflected on how England lost their way in the 2-1 defeat, barely touching the ball after they went ahead in the 55th minute. “It wasn’t the team that we wanted to be and said we’d be. When you maybe go against your beliefs and you lose, it feels 10 times worse than just losing in a way where … if we lose doing it our way you accept it, take it on the chin and move on. It’s tough and it will still be tough.

“I’m so passionate about England and especially because I’ve been on this journey … been to finals, semi-finals and been so close. Each one hurts in a different way and this one hurt, for sure, more than any other one. I’d say even more than when I missed the penalty [at the 2022 World Cup] in Qatar [against France in the 2-1 quarter-final loss] because of just the manner that it happened.”

It was put to Kane that it was a healing process. “It kind of is,” he replied. “But you have to heal while getting on with it. In football, you don’t have time. Before you know it’s the next one. It’s a hard balance because you’re trying to get over it and learn from it but also we play the world champions on Saturday and it’s a big, important game.”

Kane knows England must identify why they have repeatedly fallen short against the toughest teams when it matters most. “How can we be better in those moments?” he said. “How can we be ourselves more in those moments? Through qualifying campaigns and a lot of games in tournaments, we play with a certain intensity, we play in a good way. It’s something that we haven’t quite been able to do in latter stages of tournaments against the bigger and better nations.

“It may be a mixture of things. It may be personalities, mentality. It may be just the direction and how we want to play in those games. It’s conversations that we need to have as a group.”

Kane accepts it was not only against Argentina that England were not at their best. “Taking away the big loss at the end, there were still games at the World Cup where we didn’t quite reach our potential, the way that we train,” he said.

But the message – as articulated by Thomas Tuchel when he addressed the squad at St George’s Park on Tuesday – was of the need to fine-tune. “The general messaging is that we continue what we’ve been building,” Kane said. “Sometimes after a tournament, it’s easy to say it’s a new start but I don’t think it is that. It’s a continuation because we have done a lot of good things.”

Tuchel has been rocked by the withdrawals of Declan Rice, Cole Palmer, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento for the upcoming Nations League fixtures; after Spain, England play Czechia and Croatia away before returning to Wembley to face Czechia. Rice’s absence has attracted attention because it is for load-management reasons rather than an injury that would immediately rule him out. Kane understands the move, given Rice’s well-documented problems with nerve pain in a hamstring.

“I spoke to Dec,” Kane said. “I know Dec goes far and beyond for the club and country. I know he’s been struggling for a while with his issues. Dec reached out to me, he voice-noted me. Everyone has to look after themselves and I trust all the boys.”

It is a seismic time for Kane. He is four caps shy of Peter Shilton’s all-time England record of 125; he could be level with him by the end of this international window. Kane is also tipped to win the Ballon d’Or on 26 October and is poised to extend his contract at Bayern Munich. “We’re fairly close,” he said. “I’m happy there. It won’t be too long before there’s some sort of announcement.”

The 33-year-old allowed his thoughts to drift to the longer term and as he mused about his ambition to become an NFL kicker, there was a clear hint he saw himself finishing his football career in Major League Soccer.

“I take penalties and it [being an NFL kicker] is a very similar pressure and technique,” he said. “If I was to do it, it is something I would take seriously. I would take six months to a year to try and practise before. Maybe if I am in the MLS in the future or somewhere like that, it might be a thing where you could connect the two maybe with the seasons.”

Kane has previously said he would be interested in becoming a professional golfer. He loves to play and revealed he did not watch the World Cup final between Spain and Argentina because he went for a round of golf in New York.

“I watch golf and think: ‘I could be there,’” he said. “Then I go out and play and I am like: ‘There’s no way.’ I play off two. But I am a member at Wentworth and I shoot 10 over. Then I watch the pros, who played there last week, and 20 under wins it. I think I’ll stick to football.”