Harry Kane extends his lead as England's All-Time Leading Scorer in England's 2-0 victory over Albania in World Cup Qualifiers.

Adam Davy/PA (PA Wire)

With the Premier League taking a break this weekend, all eyes shifted towards the international fixtures. For England, this meant a new era under new head coach Thomas Tuchel and the beginning of the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico.

England’s 2-0 victory over Albania was instantly forgettable, its only matter of note being the two goal scorers. For Arsenal’s Myles Lewis-Skelly, it was a goal on his international debut – meaning he now has as many goals (2) as red cards this season!  The second goal, somewhat inevitably, came from the right boot of England’s greatest-ever goal scorer – Harry Kane.

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It may be redundant to devote a column to praising a man widely acknowledged as one of the best goal scorers to play the game. But despite Kane's widespread acclaim, I don’t think football fans understand how remarkable he is.

Since scoring 80 seconds into his England debut, Kane hasn’t stopped scoring for England. He now has 70 goals for England in just 104 matches. That goal is every 133 minutes, a truly astounding return at the international level. There are also 17 more goals in 16 fewer games than Wayne Rooney, who sits second on England’s all-time goal-scorer chart.

To put this in a broader international context, in the time since Harry Kane scored on his England debut, Lionel Messi has netted 66 times for Argentina, Robert Lewandowski 58 times for Poland, and Cristiano Ronaldo a staggering 84 times for Portugal. So, Kane belongs in the company of the game’s modern greats.

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But despite all this, Kane continues to be overlooked for the outstanding global individual awards despite 213 goals in 317 appearances for Tottenham and 57 goals in just 56 games for Bayern Munich. His best finish in the vote for the Ballon d’Or was 10th.

Kane acknowledged this in his pre-match press conference this week, stating that “people take it for granted” when discussing his astonishing goal return. And they do.

Harry Kane may have several years left in his legs; his intelligence and ability to drop deep and link up the play suggests he could prolong his career well into his thirties. However, the England captain turns 32 this summer and will approach 33 when the next World Cup begins.

 England fans and the world don’t have long left with this goal machine, and they better ensure they appreciate him while they can because it may well be another generation before a player like him comes along.