Harry Kane drew level with Peter Shilton’s record for England caps at Wembley on Tuesday night and marked the occasion with two goals in a 3-0 Nations League win over Czechia. England need one more point from their November fixtures to be certain of a place in the knockout stages.
The game followed a familiar shape. England were already ahead through Vladimir Coufal’s close-range own goal when Kane struck on 40 minutes, finishing first time with his right foot across the goalkeeper at the end of a move that began with Elliot Anderson’s swivelling pass and continued with Morgan Rogers’ volleyed cross. His second, on 57 minutes, was a downward header from a corner. He came off to a warm ovation, after his team-mates had lined up to shake his hand.
The numbers give the night its weight. Kane’s first goal made it 90 in 125 England appearances; the header took him to 91 in 125. On goals per cap, the case made afterwards was that no player has ever scored more for their country at a better rate, with Ali Daei — fractionally ahead of him on that measure before this match — now expected to be reeled in, leaving Kane behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when the record is read this way.
His wider form supports the argument. Kane has scored 85 goals in 75 games for club and country since the start of last season, and is talked about internationally as the best centre-forward in the world, a reputation Luis Díaz endorsed recently by calling him the complete footballer, “a machine and also a gentleman”. He goes into the rest of the campaign, in that reading, with a Ballon d’Or in his sights.
At home the conversation is more grudging. The charge that Kane does not deliver against the strongest opponents is rejected on the grounds that everyone scores more against weaker teams — that is what makes them weaker — and that his tournament record stands up: 21 goals, ten of them in knockout matches and two in semi-finals. Where England have fallen short, the argument runs, the fault has lain elsewhere; had he played for France, Argentina or Spain, he would have won a World Cup by now. The same reading acknowledges that he has often faded in mid-summer, but does not treat that as decisive.
Jude Bellingham has gone further, hailing the now 125-cap Kane as England’s best-ever player. The verdict delivered on the night stops short of that: Bobby Charlton remains England’s greatest until somebody matches his World Cup, European Cup and Ballon d’Or, along with his 50-odd goals from midfield. In the modern era, though, the ranking offered is Kane, then a gap, then everyone else.
The occasion itself was a flat one. Wembley had an empty, midweek feel at the end of a run of England fixtures, and Thomas Tuchel applauded from the touchline rather than punching the air. Two familiar points about England emerged: the habit of playing out from the back is not one of their strengths, but they avoided the sideways passing that has so often slowed them down, finding a way to raise the tempo instead. Czechia, for their part, really did lose to the Faroe Islands last year.
Kane’s own story supplies the frame. He was Millwall’s Young Player of the Year 14 years ago, a player then simply hoping to make it in the top tier, and his career has been built on graft and intelligence rather than a gift that only needed the right environment. Whatever this England team goes on to achieve, the argument is that its best chance lies in more of the same: more Kane, more goals.