England's players and head coach Thomas Tuchel spoke of their devastation after a stunning late Argentina comeback ended their World Cup semi-final hopes in Atlanta, with the squad unanimous in pinpointing the moments after Anthony Gordon's opener as the turning point.
Captain Kane did not hide his emotions in the immediate aftermath.
"Gutted for the boys, gutted for everyone - the team, the staff, the fans," he told BBC One. "We played a good game the large majority of it. When we went 1-0 up we seemed to try and hold on, which at this level is not enough.
"So, just gutted because we've worked so hard to be here and the lads have given every last bit of running, blood, sweat, tears. So to fall short is just gutting."
Kane pointed to England's inability to maintain the pressure that had earned them the lead in the first place.
"We struggled to get pressure on the ball. Especially first half and start of the second half, we pressed them well, we put them under loads of pressure high up the pitch which then allowed us to win balls and control the game a bit better," he said.
"After the goal, whether it was them putting more men forward or us not being able to match them man for man, it was just wave after wave. Lads were putting blocks in but, in the end, it just wasn't enough."
Asked whether the tournament had simply proven one game too far for his side, Kane said: "I don't know. The boys are always ready for any moment in the game. When we went ahead the messaging was to go again and get another goal. Then once they scored their two goals it was to try and find something but we couldn't quite get the momentum back in the game."
Defender Dan Burn offered a similar assessment, telling BBC Sport England had grown too cautious after taking the lead.
"Absolutely gutted. I thought we had the gameplan pretty well for the majority of it. But obviously, when we scored, we went a bit passive and dropped off and were ultimately punished for it. We probably conceded too many chances and if you do that, they are going to get goals. Disappointing from us. We have defended games better and seen them out. When you get that close to the World Cup final, that hurts."
Burn suggested the shift was a natural, almost instinctive reaction rather than a deliberate change in approach.
"It's only human nature a little bit as well. You know how well we have defended leads in previous games. That tends to happen to majority of teams," he said.
On what it will take for England to finally get over the line at a major tournament, he added: "I wish I had the answer for that. I am very, very proud of what we've done this tournament. Honestly, I thought we were going to do it. I had that feeling. Really thought we had something going. It's really fine margins in this level of football. Argentina have been there and done it and it probably showed."
Tuchel gave a detailed account of his thinking behind the changes that followed England's goal, defending the decision to switch to a back five as Argentina began to dominate.
"We're disappointed, we were so close but we got too passive after we scored and conceded a lot of chances," he said. "We could not turn the ball possession around and then conceded so many crosses, chances and shots. We were close but couldn't keep the level up after we scored."
He explained the tactical reasoning in detail.
"I did also offensive substitutions in the last games, we just tried to help the players. We conceded a chance straight away and we decided to go to a back five because the gaps were far too open," Tuchel said.
"They won every header, they kept crossing and crossing so we went to a back five to close the gaps inside and be strong in the air. Straight after our goal, without any substitutions, we conceded way too many crosses and way too many chances so we tried to help. Of course, the responsibility is on the coach and if it doesn't go well, it is easy to say it was wrong."
Pressed on whether he had considered going for a second goal to see the game out, Tuchel was clear that England simply could not get on the ball.
"Yes but it doesn't help if you can't get the ball. We couldn't get out," he said. "Of course we wanted to go for the second goal but I did not have the feeling that offensive substitutions would help. We stayed in our 4-4-2 but we became passive, more and more passive. We couldn't win any balls, we couldn't keep the ball so I think it was not a structural problem, we changed nothing. But the match changed completely."
The head coach acknowledged the inevitable scrutiny that follows a major tournament exit.
"It's no problem, I can understand these discussions are out there and there are millions of coaches after the game who know it better," he said.
England now turn their attention to Saturday's third-place play-off against France, looking to salvage their best World Cup finish since 1966 despite the heartbreak of falling one game short of a first final since that triumph on home soil.