Harry Kane is not retiring from the England national team, at least not yet. The Three Lions captain pushed back firmly on speculation about his international future after England’s heartbreaking 2-1 semifinal loss to Argentina at the 2026 World Cup, telling reporters it was too early to make any decision about whether he had played his final match on the sport’s biggest stage.

England had held a 1-0 lead through the 84th minute of Wednesday’s semifinal in Atlanta, thanks to an Anthony Gordon goal, before Argentina scored twice in the closing minutes to complete a stunning comeback. Enzo Fernández equalized in the 85th minute, and Lautaro Martínez headed home the winner two minutes into stoppage time, with Lionel Messi assisting on both goals. The result marked England’s second semifinal exit at the same stage in the last three World Cups and ended the team’s hopes of reaching its first final since winning the tournament in 1966.

Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone following the match, Kane, 32, was asked directly whether the loss might have marked his final World Cup appearance for England. “It’s too early to talk about that,” Kane said. “Me as a person, it’s always about taking it year by year and how I feel. The national team is my pride and joy. It’s what I love to do most, more than anything.” Kane went on to acknowledge the scale of the time commitment involved in playing at another World Cup, while pointing to Messi’s continued excellence at an advanced age as a source of inspiration. “Obviously, four years is a long way away. I’m 33 in the summer. But, as you see on the other end with Leo (Messi) there, he’s still performing at the highest level,” Kane said. “I never want to put a limit on these things. I’ll address every situation as they come, but for now, it’s about processing another tough loss with this team.”

Kane’s comments echoed similar sentiments he expressed in interviews before this year’s tournament, when he was already fielding questions about whether the 2026 World Cup might represent his final appearance on that stage given his age. Speaking to the Press Association last year ahead of England’s Nations League matches, Kane dismissed the idea that he was nearing the end of his international career, pointing to his club form with Bayern Munich as evidence he remains at the peak of his abilities. “I think there’s a perception when you get to your thirties that you’re coming to an end but for me I’m performing at the highest level I’ve ever performed and feel as good as I’ve ever felt,” Kane said at the time. “I don’t like to look too far ahead and in my career I never have, the World Cup is going to be exciting. In America it will be an incredible occasion and ultimately it’s about trying to win that, looking at where you are, where to improve and it will be no different in a couple of years.”

The retirement speculation surrounding Kane carries added weight given the timeline involved. Kane turns 33 on July 28 and would be 36 or 37 by the time the next World Cup arrives in 2030, an age at which questions about a striker’s continued international involvement become increasingly common. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who played at this year’s tournament at age 41, and Messi’s own continued dominance at 39, have both been cited by observers, and by Kane himself, as evidence that elite players can continue performing well into their late 30s and beyond, complicating any assumption that Kane’s international career is nearing its natural end.

Kane’s performance throughout this year’s tournament offered little indication of a player in decline. He scored six goals during England’s run to the semifinals, matching his tally from the 2018 World Cup and becoming his country’s all-time leading World Cup goalscorer in the process, having already set the outright England appearance record among outfield players earlier in the tournament. His semifinal appearance against Argentina marked his 121st cap for England. Along with teammate Jude Bellingham, Kane was widely credited with carrying much of England’s attacking output throughout the tournament, and he had entered the World Cup in what many pundits described as career-best form for Bayern Munich, having scored 20 times in 21 appearances for club and country in the lead-up to the tournament.

Beyond the immediate question of his World Cup future, Kane also addressed the emotional toll of Wednesday’s loss, describing a locker room in shock after coming so close to a first World Cup final appearance in six decades. “There’s not much to say for now,” Kane said. “Everyone has to process what’s just happened. Everyone’s gutted. I’m gutted for all the boys, all the staff, everyone behind the scenes, because we know how much everyone puts into being a successful national team.” He added that the manner of the defeat, with victory slipping away in the match’s final minutes, made the loss especially difficult to absorb. “And when you’re so close, when you’re 10-plus minutes away, and it slips out of your hands like that, obviously the lads are devastated. Now we just have to take it on the chin. There’s nothing we can do.”

England went on to play France in Friday’s third-place playoff in Miami, closing out the tournament with a 6-4 win built around a Bukayo Saka hat-trick and a dramatic last-kick goal from Bellingham. Kane’s involvement in that fixture, and his broader role in England’s plans heading toward the next major tournament cycle, remain open questions the team and its new manager, Thomas Tuchel, are expected to address in the months ahead. For now, based on Kane’s own comments in the immediate aftermath of England’s exit, there is no indication that his time as England’s captain and primary goal-scoring threat is coming to a close, even as the four-year gap before the next World Cup leaves plenty of uncertainty about whether he will ultimately make it back to the tournament stage in 2030.

Other options for Burnham include scrapping the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), or windfall tax. This was introduced when prices spiked at the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It has a headline rate of 78%, which is taken whether oil and gas prices are high or low.

The industry says it makes the North Sea one of the least favourable in the world for investors and there is strong evidence that investment has certainly dried up in those years.

It’s due to be replaced in 2030 by another windfall tax, which operators like more because it’s only triggered when prices are high and falls back when they are low.

While politicians have been arguing furiously over Jackdaw, Rosebank, and new exploration licences, it’s the EPL which the industry would most like the new prime minister to focus on.

It’s also the one which is likely to face the least opposition from environmentalists.

It does fit in with one of Andy Burnham’s missions of reindustrialisation by encouraging the kind of investment that brings and secures jobs.

But it’s the least politically sexy option to take.

So what he does there may help define whether the new PM is about grabbing headlines or making genuine moves to stimulate the economy.

MIAMI — England defeated France 6-4 in a stunning third-place playoff Friday, with Bukayo Saka scoring a hat-trick and Jude Bellingham netting a dramatic goal with the last kick of the match to secure the bronze medal in one of the most entertaining games of the entire 2026 World Cup.

The match, played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, saw England race to an early lead before France stormed back in the second half, only for Bellingham to deliver a stoppage-time winner that capped an extraordinary end-to-end contest. Declan Rice opened the scoring for England in the third minute, with Ezri Konsa adding a second in the 18th. Saka then struck twice before halftime, in the 37th and 46th minutes, putting England firmly in control. But France responded with a wave of second-half goals, with Kylian Mbappé scoring in the 48th and 66th minutes, Bradley Barcola adding one in the 54th, and Ousmane Dembélé leveling the match at 4-4 in the 96th minute of stoppage time. Just two minutes later, Saka completed his hat-trick to restore England’s lead in the 87th minute before the match’s decisive moment: Bellingham, picking up the ball at midfield in the 98th minute, raced toward France’s goal, danced past several defenders inside the box, and slotted home the winner with the very last kick of the game.

The result marked one of the more chaotic and high-scoring matches of the tournament, with commentators covering the game describing it as an all-time classic. According to Al Jazeera’s live coverage of the match, England were magnificent in the first half while France were subdued, before the roles reversed entirely after the break, with France turning electric and England struggling defensively, setting up the frantic finish that ultimately swung back in England’s favor.

The victory offered a measure of consolation for England following its gut-wrenching semifinal defeat to Argentina earlier in the tournament, a match the Three Lions lost 2-1 after conceding twice in the closing minutes. England manager Thomas Tuchel made a notable gesture after Friday’s match, giving his bronze medal to a member of his backroom staff as a thank-you for her contributions throughout the tournament, a moment captured as the England squad and coaching staff posed for photos on the pitch following the final whistle.

England players took a lap around the stadium after the match to acknowledge the fans who had followed the team across both the United States and Mexico throughout the tournament, a gesture that was warmly received by supporters despite the earlier semifinal heartbreak. Among those taking part was midfielder Jordan Henderson, who played through the tournament’s later stages while wearing a large cast on his arm following an injury, though he appeared in good spirits during the postgame celebrations.

For France, the match marked the final appearance of longtime manager Didier Deschamps in charge of the national team. French supporters inside the stadium held up a banner reading “Merci Didier” as Deschamps walked down the tunnel for the last time in his role. Deschamps is one of only three men in history to have won the World Cup as both a player and a head coach, and he departs the position having overseen a record 19 World Cup match victories during his tenure leading Les Bleus.

Friday’s result also had significant implications for the tournament’s individual Golden Boot race. Mbappé’s brace against England pushed his tournament tally to 10 goals, moving him two clear of Argentina’s Lionel Messi, who remains on eight goals heading into Sunday’s championship final. Jude Bellingham’s dramatic late strike moved him into third place in the tournament scoring standings with seven goals. Messi will have one final opportunity to close the gap on Mbappé when Argentina faces Spain in Sunday’s World Cup final in New Jersey, though matching Mbappé’s tournament-leading total would require a two-goal performance in the championship match itself.

With the third-place playoff now complete, all attention turns to Sunday’s final between Argentina and Spain, a matchup billed around the individual duel between Messi and Spain’s 19-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal, alongside the broader team stakes of Argentina’s bid to become the first nation in more than six decades to win consecutive World Cup titles. Al Jazeera and other outlets covering the tournament indicated they would provide extensive coverage of the buildup to Sunday’s final, along with live coverage of the match itself and its aftermath.

Friday’s third-place playoff, often viewed as one of the World Cup’s less consequential fixtures given that neither team wanted to be playing in it after falling short of the final, instead delivered one of the tournament’s most memorable individual performances in Saka’s hat-trick, paired with a finish few could have anticipated in Bellingham’s last-kick winner. The result offered England a small measure of redemption following its agonizing semifinal exit, while closing out Deschamps’ long and decorated tenure as France’s head coach with one final, if ultimately unsuccessful, chase for a podium finish.

Both teams will now turn their attention toward the future. England, still searching for its first World Cup title since 1966, will look ahead to the next major tournament cycle with a young core led by Bellingham and Saka. France, meanwhile, enters a period of transition as it prepares to appoint Deschamps’ successor following his departure after a tenure that included a World Cup title in 2018 and a runner-up finish in 2022, alongside Friday’s ultimately unsuccessful bid for a third-place finish in what proved to be one of the most dramatic matches of the entire 2026 tournament.

As many as 88 companies, including Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Abbott India and Info Edge, have fixed record dates for dividends, stock splits, bonus issues and other corporate actions this week. Investors must hold shares in their demat accounts on the respective record dates to be eligible. Here is the complete day-wise list of key corporate actions to track.

As many as 88 companies, including Bharti Airtel, Hero MotoCorp, Abbott India, Info Edge and others, have fixed their record dates for corporate actions such as stock splits, bonus issues and dividends this week.

Investors must hold shares of these companies in their demat accounts on the respective record dates to be eligible for the announced corporate actions. The list remains tentative, as more companies may announce record dates for dividends, bonus issues and stock splits during the week.

Here is a day-wise list of corporate actions to watch out for:

July 20 (Monday)

Monday will see 12 stocks turn ex-record date for their respective dividends, while one stock will turn ex-record date for a stock split. Heavy engineering components maker Simplex Castings has fixed July 20 as the record date for its 1:5 stock split.
Graphite India will pay a final dividend of Rs 7 per share, with the record date fixed on Monday. Textile player KPR Mill will pay a dividend of Rs 2.5 per share. Other companies that have fixed Monday as the record date for their respective dividends include AccelerateBS India (Rs 0.1 per share), Aditya Infotech (Rs 1.64 per share), Fairchem Organics (Rs 1 per share), Happy Forgings (Rs 4 per share), NDR Auto Components (Rs 4 per share), Nelcast (Rs 0.7 per share), Nesco (Rs 7 per share), Pokarna (Rs 0.6 per share), Quest Capital Markets (Rs 2.5 per share) and SPR Auto Technologies (Rs 5 per share).July 21 (Tuesday)

Lead, lead alloys and plastic additives producer Pondy Oxides & Chemicals has fixed July 21 as the record date for its 2:5 stock split. Apart from this, eight companies have fixed Tuesday as the record date for their respective dividends.

These include Angel One (Rs 1 per share), Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company (Rs 0.7 per share), Indo Borax & Chemicals (final dividend of Rs 10 and special dividend of Rs 30), Jaro Institute of Technology Management and Research (Rs 3 per share), Ksolves India (Rs 4 per share), Laxmi Organic Industries (Rs 0.3 per share), Punjab & Sind Bank (Rs 0.39 per share) and Rainbow Children’s Medicare (Rs 3.5 per share).

Also read: Wall Street’s chip index enters bear market! Is the AI bubble finally going bust?

July 22 (Wednesday)

Wednesday will see 11 stocks turn ex-record date for their respective dividends. Pressure cooker and kitchen appliances manufacturer Hawkins Cookers stands out with a hefty final dividend of Rs 140 per share, while mutual fund house Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC will pay a final dividend of Rs 25.5 per share.

Apart from these, nine other companies have fixed Wednesday as the record date for their respective dividends. These include Cosmo First (Rs 4 per share), Goodricke Group (Rs 2 per share), HEG Ltd (Rs 3.4 per share), Menon Bearings (interim dividend of Rs 2 per share), Ram Ratna Wires (Rs 2.5 per share), Sanco Trans (Rs 4.5 per share), Sarla Performance Fibers (Rs 2 per share), Thangamayil Jewellery (Rs 18 per share) and Wires & Fabriks (S.A.) (Rs 0.1 per share).

Notably, Triveni Engineering & Industries has also fixed Wednesday as the record date for the demerger of its power transmission business.

July 23 (Thursday)

Thursday will see 13 stocks turn ex-record date for their respective dividends. Credit rating agency ICRA Ltd stands out by rewarding shareholders with a final dividend of Rs 70 per share and a special dividend of Rs 35 per share, while welding and cutting equipment manufacturer Esab India will pay a final dividend of Rs 25 per share.

Apart from these, 11 other companies have fixed Thursday as the record date for their respective dividends. These include ABM Knowledgeware (Rs 1.25 per share), Afcons Infrastructure (Rs 2 per share), Banswara Syntex (Rs 1 per share), Bhagiradha Chemicals & Industries (Rs 0.15 per share), D.B. Corp (interim dividend of Rs 5 per share), Mangalam Worldwide (Rs 0.3 per share), Oriental Hotels (Rs 0.65 per share), Paushak Ltd (Rs 2.5 per share), Pidilite Industries (Rs 11.5 per share), Precision Camshafts (Rs 1 per share) and Sudeep Pharma (Rs 1.5 per share).

July 24 (Friday)

Friday will see 34 stocks turn ex-record date for their respective dividends, one stock for its stock split, and one company executing both a bonus issue and a stock split. Pharma heavyweight Abbott India stands out by rewarding shareholders with a dual payout — a final dividend of Rs 525 per share and a special dividend of Rs 131 per share.

Voltamp Transformers will pay a substantial final dividend of Rs 100 per share, while telecom major Bharti Airtel will distribute Rs 24 per share. Software and IT services player Sasken Technologies will pay Rs 13 per share. Intellect Design Arena has also lined up a double reward, offering a final dividend of Rs 4 per share and a special dividend of Rs 3 per share.

Apart from these, 28 other companies have fixed Friday as the record date for their respective dividends. These include Advanced Enzyme Technologies (Rs 1.35 per share), Bhageria Industries (Rs 2.5 per share), Birla Corporation (Rs 12.5 per share), Bombay Cycle & Motor Agency (Rs 5 per share), Chembond Chemicals (Rs 1.25 per share), Concord Biotech (Rs 7.55 per share), Cravatex Ltd (Rs 13 per share), Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals (Rs 3 per share), Data Patterns (India) (Rs 10 per share), Divi’s Laboratories (Rs 30 per share), Elcid Investments (Rs 25 per share), Fiem Industries (Rs 40 per share), Hero MotoCorp (Rs 75 per share), Info Edge (India) (Rs 3.6 per share), Joindre Capital Services (Rs 2 per share), Jubilant Ingrevia (Rs 2.5 per share), Jubilant Pharmova (Rs 5 per share), Karur Vysya Bank (Rs 2.6 per share), Kirloskar Brothers (Rs 7 per share), Lakshmi Electrical Control Systems (Rs 3 per share), Mitsu Chem Plast (Rs 0.2 per share), Neuland Laboratories (Rs 34 per share), Nitta Gelatin India (Rs 7 per share), Nocil Ltd (Rs 1.5 per share), Orient Bell (Rs 1 per share), PDS Ltd (Rs 1.65 per share), Radico Khaitan (Rs 9 per share), Refex Industries (Rs 1 per share), Rishabh Instruments (Rs 2 per share), Shetron Ltd (Rs 1 per share), SIL Investments (Rs 2.5 per share), Siyaram Silk Mills (Rs 5 per share), Steelcast Ltd (Rs 0.54 per share) and Swelect Energy Systems (Rs 3.5 per share).

Moving beyond cash payouts, structural share adjustments will also close out the week. Kalind has fixed Friday as the record date for a dual corporate action: a 1:2 bonus issue along with a stock split, reducing the face value of shares from Rs 10 to Rs 2. Meanwhile, PS Raj Steels has also fixed Friday as the record date for its stock split, subdividing equity shares from a face value of Rs 10 to Rs 2.

Also read: Bharti Airtel fixes record date for its highest-ever dividend of Rs 24/share. What’s the last date to buy?

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com.

Sunday’s edition of The New York Times’ Connections puzzle sent players through electrical terminology, digital slang, bathroom fixtures and a tricky wordplay category built around facial expressions, delivering what many players rated as one of the tougher boards of the week.

Connections challenges players to sort 16 words or phrases into four hidden groups of four, with each group tied to a shared theme. The categories are ranked by difficulty and color-coded accordingly, running from yellow for the most straightforward group to purple for the trickiest, which frequently leans on wordplay, hidden patterns or double meanings. Players are allowed four total mistakes before the puzzle ends, and the daily game continues to rank among the Times’ most popular digital offerings alongside Wordle.

Sunday’s yellow group, the day’s easiest category, centered on components of an electrical circuit: BREAKER, FUSE, RELAY and SWITCH. Each term describes a distinct piece of hardware involved in controlling or protecting the flow of electrical current, from a circuit breaker that interrupts power during an overload to a switch that opens or closes a circuit manually.

The green group asked players to identify digital coupling verbs: CONNECT, JOIN, PAIR and SYNC. Each word describes the act of linking two devices, accounts or pieces of technology together, a category that reflects increasingly common tech vocabulary from Bluetooth pairing to account syncing across platforms. Several solvers reported briefly grouping FUSE into this category as well, given that fusing two things together could plausibly be read as another coupling verb, before recognizing that FUSE more properly belonged among the yellow group’s circuit components.

Moving into the blue category, the puzzle’s third-hardest group, Sunday’s theme centered on things toilets do: DRAIN, FLUSH, REFILL and SWIRL. Each word describes a distinct stage or action within a standard toilet’s operating cycle, from the swirling motion of water during a flush to the tank refilling itself afterward. Commentators covering the puzzle noted this category proved to be one of the more elusive groupings of the day, since each individual word carries several other plausible meanings outside the bathroom-specific context the puzzle intended.

The purple group, traditionally the day’s most difficult and prone to misdirection, asked players to identify words that could each follow a blank to form a facial expression: GAME, LONG, POKER and STRAIGHT. Adding “face” after each word produces a familiar phrase: game face, long face, poker face and straight face. One player detailing their solving process online said the connection clicked immediately upon seeing POKER, which brought to mind Lady Gaga’s debut hit “Poker Face,” before GAME and STRAIGHT followed naturally, along with LONG, tied to the familiar bar joke about a horse being asked why it has such a long face.

Puzzle trackers following Sunday’s board noted several deliberate red herrings built into the grid, designed to nudge solvers toward incorrect groupings before the true categories became clear. The overlap between FUSE fitting both the circuit-components and digital-coupling themes, along with the multiple plausible meanings behind several of the toilet-related words, made Sunday’s puzzle a notably tricky solve even for experienced players. One columnist covering the puzzle for TechRadar rated the day’s difficulty as “hard” and reported finishing with a single mistake, made by initially placing FUSE in the digital coupling group before recognizing the more fitting circuit-components category.

For players working through the puzzle without hints, general strategy guidance suggests beginning with the most straightforward, tightly defined categories, such as Sunday’s electrical-components yellow group, before moving on to categories requiring lateral thinking or wordplay recognition, such as the purple group’s hidden “face” pattern. Players are also encouraged to watch for words that plausibly fit more than one category, a hallmark of Connections’ design that becomes especially relevant once the easier groups have already been solved. The game’s “one away” feature, which alerts players when three of their four selected words belong to the same group, can also serve as a useful tool for refining guesses without immediately triggering a mistake.

Sunday’s puzzle continued a run of thematically varied boards throughout the week, following Saturday’s grid, which grouped ways to commit a basketball violation, words meaning belief, elements tracked in video games, and words that follow “pop.” That board included CARRY, DOUBLE DRIBBLE, GOALTEND and TRAVEL in its basketball-violation yellow group; ATTITUDE, MIND, OPINION and VIEW in its belief-themed green group; HEALTH, LIVES, SCORE and TIME in its video-game blue group; and CULTURE, FLY, QUIZ and TART in its “pop”-themed purple group.

The complete answers for Sunday, July 19, puzzle number 1,134, are as follows: the yellow group, tied to circuit components, includes BREAKER, FUSE, RELAY and SWITCH; the green group, built around digital coupling verbs, includes CONNECT, JOIN, PAIR and SYNC; the blue group, centered on things toilets do, includes DRAIN, FLUSH, REFILL and SWIRL; and the purple group, built around words that precede “face” to form an expression, includes GAME, LONG, POKER and STRAIGHT.

Connections has built a devoted daily following since its 2023 debut by combining accessible mechanics with puzzles that consistently reward pattern recognition and careful reading over quick guessing, a formula that has helped the game rival Wordle in daily engagement even as it demands a different style of reasoning from players. The game is available daily alongside the Times’ broader puzzle lineup, including Wordle, Strands, the traditional Crossword, Letter Boxed and Sudoku, with a new Connections board set to go live at midnight local time for players looking to keep their streaks intact heading into the new week.