England boss Thomas Tuchel hailed Harry Kane after he transcended Pele’s international goalscoring record with a brace against Albania in the Three Lions’ final competitive fixture before the World Cup. Pele scored 77 goals for the Brazilian national team in 91 appearances and has topped the list for the most international goals for 54 years.
But against Albania on Sunday, Kane eclipsed Pele with two goals in eight minutes to reach the summit of international football on his 112th outing for England. The 32-year-old gave the Three Lions the lead with just 16 minutes to play on a testing night in Tirana, equalling the Bazil icon’s record as he scrambled a Bukayo Saka corner home from close range.
Once he got a sniff, Kane did not mess around – surpassing the record eight minutes later. Marcus Rashford delivered a glorious cross towards the back post, which Kane matched with a fantastic guided header before wheeling off to celebrate his record-breaking goal. Kane scored his first goal for England in March 2015, bagging the Three Lions’ fourth in their 4-0 Euro 2016 qualification win over Lithuania.
Thomas Tuchel Heaps Praise on Goalscoring Phenomenon Kane
Ten years later, he has become his nation’s most prolific international goalscorer of all time. The Tottenham Hotspur academy product has been Mr Reliable for England, winning the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot. He also finished Euro 2024 as joint top scorer, helping the Three Lions reach consecutive Euro finals. This is Kane’s second record in three months.
In October, the Bayern Munich striker became the fastest player to score 100 goals in the Bundesliga, achieving the feat in only 104 matches. Kane is 24 goals clear of Wayne Rooney as England’s all-time top goalscorer and is only 14 caps away from surpassing Peter Shilton as England’s record appearance maker. Despite his host of accolades, the England frontman has never finished higher than 10th in the race for the Ballon d’Or and placed 13th this year.
As England wrapped up their World Cup qualifying campaign with eight wins from eight, Tuchel praised Kane’s dedication to the national team on his history-making night. “We spoke about it in the dressing room,” Tuchel said in his post-match press conference.
“This is the cherry on top. The investment from Harry in these matches is outstanding. He is so invested in everything we do. He’s the same for Bayern Munich. He’s in a mindset and physical condition that is at the highest level. He produces goal after goal for us. The way he works, tracks back, finds solutions in offensive play is outstanding.”
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