Expect a Hurri-Kane again

LONDON, November 12

If England manager Gareth Southgate could wrap one player in cotton wool before his squad board the plane for Qatar it would surely be captain and goal machine Harry Kane.

Whatever combination of players Southgate selects elsewhere in his team, the one constant is that the 29-year-old Kane can be relied upon to put the ball in the back of the net.

Kane scored 80 seconds after coming on as a substitute against Lithuania on his England debut in 2015 and has 51 goals from 75 appearances for his country — a ratio that puts him firmly in the ‘world class’ category.

He won the FIFA Golden Boot award in his first World Cup tournament in 2018, bagging six goals as England progressed to the semifinals before losing to Croatia.

After a slow start, he also bagged four goals at the delayed Euro 2020 tournament as England went even closer, reaching a Wembley final against Italy and losing on penalties.

Kane’s ability to link play as well as score goals of all sorts has been well-documented at Tottenham Hotspur where he has been ripping up records and is on course to surpass Alan Shearer’s Premier League mark of 260 goals. Shearer did not claim the collection of silverware his goals deserved but did manage a Premier League title with Blackburn Rovers, which is where he differs from Kane.

Kane has had some near misses with Tottenham, with a couple of close title runs under Mauricio Pochettino, a Champions League runner-up medal and two League Cup runners-up medals.

He appeared close to a move to Manchester City in 2021 — which would have almost guaranteed the Londoner some tangible reward for his goals return.

With Kane as the fulcrum of their attack, Antonio Conte’s Tottenham will be in the mix for honours this season, but perhaps his best chance of having something to give pride of place to in his trophy cabinet is with England.

But the clock is ticking on that too. After this year’s World Cup in Qatar, Kane probably has one more tournament (Euro 2024) at which he will be in his prime.

With Southgate hinting that a poor World Cup might bring the curtain down on his impressive England reign, there is a real sense of urgency for himself and Kane. Certainly without Kane firing on all cylinders, England’s prospects recede greatly as only one other player in Southgate’s likely squad — Chelsea’s Raheem Sterling — has reached double figures in goals for England.

If Kane fills his boots in Qatar and gets at least the three goals he needs to replace Wayne Rooney as his country’s all-time top scorer. — Reuters

Squad

Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Coady, Eric Dier, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ben White, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice , Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, James Maddison, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Callum Wilson

Form guide

After securing World Cup qualification, England have suffered a spectacular collapse in form, going six competitive games without a victory. They failed to win a match in their Nations League campaign in a group with Italy, Hungary and Germany.

At the World Cup

16 This will be England’s 16th World Cup since their tournament debut in 1950

3 England have failed to qualify for the World Cup three times — in 1974, 1978 and 1994

6 Harry Kane bagged six goals and the FIFA Golden Boot award in the last edition

How they qualified

World No. 5 England breezed through their qualifying group, going unbeaten in 10 matches with eight wins and two draws.

England matches

Group B

vs Iran, November 21

vs Usa, November 26

vs Wales, November 30