Harry Kane has rekindled his form at Tottenham in the second half of this season, and his England goalscoring prowess hasn’t let up either.
Kane’s form on the international stage this term is practically unrivalled. He scored in three consecutive World Cup qualifiers against Hungary, Andorra and Poland back in September, bagged a perfect hat-trick against Albania and then scored four against San Marino to wrap up 2021 with 16 goals.
On Saturday his first international appearance in 2022 resulted in him scoring the winner in the 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland. The captain’s account is open for the year. Who says he can’t close it in the World Cup final come December?
Kane’s 16 England goals last year was a record in itself. He had scored 12 before the final international of the year, matching his own feat of 2019 and that of sepia-tinted legends George Hilsdon and Dixie Dean, and he is only the second player after Vivian Woodward to tally double figures in a year twice.
Kane has a reasonable claim to being England’s greatest ever striker as he is now the Three Lions’ top scorer in competitive matches. Wayne Rooney previously held the record with 37, though the Manchester United icon remains at the summit of the all-time goalscoring chart.
His converted penalty against Switzerland means Kane has now surpassed Gary Lineker’s 48 England goals. He now has 49, joint-second alongside Sir Bobby Charlton, with only Rooney ahead of him.
Taking into account goals-to-game ratio, Kane’s goalscoring record for England seems even more impressive. Where Rooney required 120 caps to score 53 goals at a ratio of 0.44 per game, Kane has scored 49 in only 68 appearances at a ratio of 0.72.
England’s top 10 goalscorers of all-time
- Wayne Rooney: 53 goals, 120 caps
- Bobby Charlton: 49 goals, 106 caps
- Harry Kane: 49 goals, 68 caps
- Gary Lineker: 48 goals, 80 caps
- Jimmy Greaves: 44 goals, 57 caps
- Michael Owen: 40 goals, 89 caps
- Nat Lofthouse: 30 goals, 33 caps
- Alan Shearer: 30 goals, 63 caps
- Tom Finney: 30 goals, 76 caps
- Vivian Woodward: 23 goals, 29 caps
Lineker scored 0.6 goals per game for England in an international career spanning eight years, while Charlton scored 0.46 per game over a 12-year stretch. It may seem surreal, but Kane only made his England debut in March 2015, just over six-and-a-half years ago.
Of the top five England goalscorers, only Greaves has a better ratio than Kane, having scored his 44 goals in only 57 appearances at 0.77 a match. It helped that he scored a record six hat-tricks, with Kane needing one more to match him.
Only one of Greaves’ hat-tricks came in a competitive match, however, meaning Kane has the most in competitive fixtures. Kane also holds the joint-record for most goals scored at a World Cup tournament with six at Russia 2018, matching Lineker’s tally at Mexico ‘86, as well as the joint-record for scoring in most consecutive internationals – six – and the most goals scored from penalties with 11.
Ultimately, while Kane’s claim to the title of greatest England striker is still up for debate, there’s a lot of evidence in his favour. At 28 and having recovered from a slump in his domestic form, he should have plenty more time to add the goals required to settle the argument once and for all.
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