Harry Kane’s 125th England cap was always going to be about him, and so it proved. On the night he drew level with Peter Shilton at the top of the all-time England appearance list, the captain scored twice in a supremely comfortable Nations League victory over Czechia at Wembley, moving his international tally on to 91 goals. Kane’s name was read out with the teams, his face appeared on the big screen before kick-off and he was pictured alongside Shilton as the Wembley crowd roared.
The evening had begun with Kane being shown a replay of his first England goal during a pre-match interview — the header against Lithuania in 2015, scored just 79 seconds after he came on as a substitute on his debut. It ended with him reflecting on two more. His passing was very good throughout, and he even claimed the assist for the breakthrough, crossing from the right into a corridor of uncertainty that Czechia right-back Vladimir Coufal turned firmly past his own goalkeeper. Eberechi Eze was at Coufal’s back as he faced his own goal, and the full-back could not check his momentum as he stretched.
England’s second goal arrived before half-time and it had to be Kane. Elliot Anderson’s lofted ball up the inside right was met by Morgan Rogers’ first-time cross on the half-volley, cut unerringly towards the middle, where Kane was unmarked and Lukas Hornicek was helpless. Kane wanted more, as usual, and he got it: shortly after the restart he unloaded from the edge of the area and watched the shot kiss the top of the crossbar. Then he beat Hornicek for real, rising to head home Lewis Hall’s corner with too much power for the goalkeeper to keep out. Only Jiri Slama knows why he gave Kane so much room in front of goal, and the corner itself came after Hornicek had kept out an audacious Bellingham flick. Kane was withdrawn in the 82nd minute and left to a great ovation.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, recalled at right-back by Thomas Tuchel, was involved in the buildup to the own goal and caught the eye, repeatedly getting into advanced areas and forcing Hornicek into a save with a whipped free-kick at the outset. There was also a first-half moment when he stormed into the No 9 position on to an Anderson pass but could not bring the ball under his spell. Jude Bellingham was excellent, producing fizzed passes that took the breath and got England into dangerous positions, including one for Rogers in the 25th minute that the attacker wasted. Anderson should have made it 2-0 after a Bellingham lay-off, with Kane sparking the move and Alexander-Arnold driving the cross.
Lewis Hall was impressive at left-back. There was a minor irritation for Tuchel when Myles Lewis-Skelly was booked in the 53rd minute for pulling back Pavel Sulc, a caution that will rule him out of England’s next game, and it was a needless risk for him to get in the face of Michal Sadilek shortly afterwards. Sadilek had been booked for fouling Rogers. England toyed with Czechia in the second half as Eze ran through some of his party tricks, but it was Kane who provided the substance.
For Tuchel, the pattern against lesser-ranked opposition continues to hold. England have now played 16 matches under him against teams ranked outside the world’s top 20, winning 15 and drawing one — against Ghana at the World Cup — while conceding only once, against the Democratic Republic of the Congo, also at the World Cup. Czechia, ranked No 50, were never in the contest.
The victory virtually guaranteed England’s progress into the Nations League quarter-finals and, perhaps more importantly, allowed them to close out this elongated window with plenty of optimism. One of the main goals was to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina. It was mission accomplished.
Kane will break the caps record when England host Croatia in November, the night on which he will be truly feted. As an aside, he would want to do it at Wembley rather than in Madrid against Spain, where England’s next-but-one game will be staged. Perhaps that was part of why he was so keen to play in all four of the matches during this window — although Kane always wants to play, and he was one of only three England players to start each of them, alongside Marc Guéhi and Elliot Anderson.