Harry Kane has been England’s sure thing for so long that it is easy to forget how rare that is. England have had brilliant attackers, famous captains, and tournament icons, but they have almost never had a No. 9 this reliable for this long. Kane enters this World Cup as England’s all-time leading scorer, with 78 goals in 112 appearances, and he is still the player Thomas Tuchel will build the attack around.
He also arrives in outstanding club form. Kane has scored an absurd 64 goals with 8 assists across all competitions this season, notching hat tricks in each of his final two matches before the World Cup, leading Bayern to a German Cup trophy in his final game of the season. That is not just “veteran striker still hanging around” production. That is a 32-year-old who is still one of the top two or three strikers in the game today.
What makes Kane especially important for England is that he solves two problems at once. He is still their best finisher, but he is also one of their best connectors. With Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, Eberechi Eze, Morgan Rogers, Nico O’Reilly, Declan Rice and others around him, England do not need Kane to run away from defenders all tournament. They need him to pin center backs, drop into midfield at the right moments, play the pass that releases a runner, and then still be in the box when the move comes back around.
England’s attack can look brilliant when Kane drops and the runners fly past him. It can also get a little crowded if too many creators want the same central spaces. Tuchel’s job is to make sure Kane’s playmaking adds structure rather than slowing the attack down. Kane is good enough to be the focal point of a World Cup winner, but England need the players around him to stretch the field so he is not constantly receiving with his back to goal in traffic.
The legacy piece is impossible to ignore. Kane has won the Golden Boot at a World Cup, broken the England scoring record, and now collected trophies at Bayern. But with England, the story is still unfinished. The missed penalty against France in 2022 is not the whole story of his international career, but it is still part of the mythology. So are the near-misses at Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.
That is what makes this World Cup feel like the defining Kane tournament. England once again have enough talent to win it. Kane is still good enough to lead them there. And if they finally do end the long wait, it is hard to imagine the final chapter being written without their captain and record scorer right in the middle of it.