Harry Kane has a lot of expectations on his shoulders at the World Cup as England’s captain and top scorer, but he believes other players will step up if needed this summer.
Harry Kane is England’s record scorer with 79 goals in 113 caps (Image: CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP via Getty Images)
Harry Kane said this was his best chance to win the World Cup.
Kane, the 32-year-old England captain, has just enjoyed a record-breaking season for Bayern Munich, scoring an astonishing 61 goals. But Kane also dismissed the notion that England had become a “Harry Kane team”, saying England were good enough to win trophies.
Kane, who is playing in his third World Cup having previously reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals, told ITV: “This is probably the best opportunity of my career to win a World Cup. You never know what happens in football so it could be the last time, but you know the kind of person I am. I want to play for a long, long time.”
“I feel like I’m in my prime and I feel better than I’ve ever felt, but you never know what can happen in football, you never know what can happen with injuries, and the World Cup is the pinnacle of my career and this is my third.
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“The way I’m feeling right now after the season I’ve had so far, it’s probably the best chance of my career to win the World Cup.”
With 79 goals in 113 caps, Kane has scored more goals than the rest of the team combined, raising questions about whether the goals from other departments are enough.
But Kane insisted that was exactly the case with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, with other players who have lifted trophies with England proving there are serial winners in camp.
Kane added: “If you’re the top striker in the team, you’re going to rely on the striker to score goals. If you’re the top goalscorer in the team, like Erling in Norway or Mbappe in France, you’re expected to score goals, and that’s not a bad thing.”
Harry Kane is confident his team-mate will contribute with a goal (Image: ITV)
“If you look at the team we have selected, I think there will be goals from other areas of the team. We also have some great wingers in the team we have selected and everyone has had a successful season in terms of trophies and that is an important factor.”
“People might say they might be counting on me, but that’s a responsibility I’ve had throughout my career. We haven’t won an England shirt for 60 years, but we’ve come a lot closer than we have in my career, and now it’s time to make sure we cross that line.”
England, who beat New Zealand 1-0 on Saturday night in their first World Cup warm-up thanks to Kane’s header, are now preparing to face Costa Rica in their final game in Florida before heading to their training base in Kansas City for their first match against Croatia on June 17.
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