Harry Kane, Digi Mart USA News: England captain Harry Kane will make his 126th appearance against Croatia at Wembley on Thursday night, moving him ahead of Peter Shilton on the all-time list of England’s most capped men’s players. Shilton has held the record since 1990, when he finished his 20-year career.
Kane is England’s record goalscorer with 91 goals, comfortably clear of Wayne Rooney, who retired with 53. Shilton will present Kane with a memento of the historic cap before kick-off. Kane’s achievement of winning the Ballon d’Or last month will also be recognised.
Kane said he still feels a need to prove himself. “I don’t think it will ever leave me,” he said, when asked whether he continued to have points to prove.
“It’s probably part of what makes me push myself to the limits that I do because in football, you’ve never completed it.”
The 33-year-old is conscious that two of his England teammates have won a significant number of caps. Declan Rice has 80 at the age of 27, and Jude Bellingham has 60 at 23. “I’ll try to give them a good number to catch,” Kane said.
“The goal record, of course, is going to be one that’s difficult to beat for a while.”
Kane said he hopes to set an example for younger players. “It’s by setting standards, being available every time, getting the caps and scoring the goals.
That should help motivate the younger players.”
Kane has been doubted at numerous points in his career, beginning when he was released by Arsenal as an eight-year-old. He had difficult loans from Tottenham to Norwich and Leicester in 2012-13, and faced “one-season-wonder” criticism after his breakthrough campaign for Spurs and England in 2014-15.
He has also been ridiculed for setting lofty targets, including his 2017 ambition to replicate the numbers of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, and his stated aim of winning the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot. When he stood on the verge of his 100th England cap in September 2024 with 66 goals, he said he wanted to score 100. Questions about his place in the team followed Euro 2024, when his performances were underwhelming and he was substituted in the final.
“It’s just my mindset,” Kane said. “Because I’ve had to prove people wrong my whole career.
If someone tells me I can’t do something it motivates me more to do it.”
Kane described the penalty miss against France in the 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat in 2022 as the lowest individual moment of his England career. “That was really tough but again it was the way I bounced back,” he said.
He added that he has scored the next 31 penalties of his career, and changed his technique in the process.
“There have been a lot of low points but maybe they are things that have helped me get to where I am now,” Kane said.
