Harry Kane has rewritten the history books and broken records with sustained brilliance for clubs and country over more than a decade.
The 32-year-old holds England’s all-time scoring record, with a remarkable 74 goals in 109 appearances, with power to add as Thomas Tuchel’s side move to the brink of qualification for next summer’s World Cup.
Kane is also Tottenham Hotspur’s greatest goalscorer, with 280 goals in 435 appearances before moving to Bayern Munich in an 86.4m deal in August 2023.
And Kane’s stunning consistency has continued since moving to Munich, scoring 103 goals in 106 appearances for Bayern – also ending his long wait for a trophy when winning the Bundesliga last season.
Kane reached his century of goals for Bayern with a double in a 4-0 win against Werder Bremen. He achieved the feat in 104 games, putting him ahead of Erling Haaland and Cristiano Ronaldo as the fastest player to reach 100 for a single club in Europe’s top five leagues – after they hit the landmark for Manchester City and Real Madrid in 105 games.
He has scored 19 goals in 12 games for England and Bayern this season – one every 52 minutes.
And yet, for all these achievements, is Kane still underappreciated?
Is Kane taken for granted?
Kane is England’s goalscoring talisman – but there are still those who question whether he could have done more, asking whether his international record has been aided by qualifiers against inferior opposition.
Former England striker Chris Sutton puts the argument to bed in a single sentence: “If Harry Kane announced his retirement from international football today, we would instantly view the England team and their chances at next year’s World Cup in a completely different light.”
He added: “Kane may not have too long left with England, but who is the replacement? Who is anywhere near his level? No-one. That tells you all you need to know. As an all-rounder and ruthless goalscorer, England haven’t had many better.
“People say about scoring goals in qualifiers but he’s not the fixtures secretary, is he? He can’t help who he plays against. He’s a goalscoring machine and has been all his career.
“When you are talking about all-time great England strikers, he has to be in that conversation. Just look at his numbers.”
Major tournaments have not always been kind to Kane, starting with Euro 2016 in France when he took more corners than he scored goals – seven versus none – thanks to a bizarre set-piece strategy from manager Roy Hodgson, summing up a shambolic campaign that ended in humiliation against Iceland in the last 16.
Two years later in Russia, as England captain, Kane won the Golden Boot at the World Cup, scoring six goals in six games as Sir Gareth Southgate’s side reached the semi-finals.
He was England’s top scorer when they reached the final of the delayed Euro 2020 tournament with four goals in seven games, although the 2022 World Cup ended in disappointment as Kane missed a penalty in the 2-1 defeat by France in the quarter-final in Qatar.
Kane, by his own standards, had a disappointing Euro 2024, looking so jaded there was a clamour for England’s captain to be replaced by Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins.
He was substituted in every one of England’s knockout matches, including after only 61 minutes of the final loss to Spain in Berlin – and yet still finished as the tournament’s joint top scorer with three goals from seven games.
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