Harry Kane scored twice on his 125th England appearance against the Czech Republic, taking his international tally to 91 and matching legendary goalkeeper Peter Shilton's record of 125 caps, a mark he reached eight years and 31 days faster than Shilton. The England captain needed 11 years and 193 days to scale that peak; Shilton took 19 years and 224 days. At Wembley, England beat their visitors 3-0 in the Nations League, with Kane involved in every goal: his cross forced Vladimir Coufal into an own goal before he struck twice himself. "He is the best England player to ever wear the shirt and it is an honour to play with him," Jude Bellingham said of his captain after the match. "It's what he does... I don't take it for granted, it's just exceptional every single match," added England manager Thomas Tuchel.
His England debut came against Lithuania in March 2015, when he scored 79 seconds after coming off the bench. Since then, the 33-year-old has been remarkably consistent in front of goal, leaving Wayne Rooney's former record of 53 goals far behind. Yet official sources do not entirely agree on his numbers. The Football Association (FA) credits the captain with 21 assists, while other sports outlets put the figure at 19. Discrepancy aside, his edge over Rooney is plain to see: Rooney scored 53 goals in 120 matches, an average of 0.44 per game, whereas Kane's average stands at 0.73.
"You will go on and beat (the record) in November, I'm sure of that, and maybe go on and set a record that will never be beaten," Shilton himself told Kane in a video message. At World Cup and European Championship finals, Kane has scored 21 goals in total. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, with 25, and Kylian Mbappe, with 23, have managed more in the history of world football, while Lionel Messi shares third place with him.
