The passionate Harry Kane speech driving England’s World Cup dream | OneFootball

In the Riga dressing room after England had clinched World Cup 2026 qualification with a 5-0 win over Latvia, Harry Kane gave a speech in which he spoke about “keeping the same hunger” and ensuring the next camp is now treated as a proper build-up. This, the captain told less experienced teammates, is a key to going far in campaigns.

But not necessarily winning them, some might point out, since Kane hasn’t yet done that with England. And yet, in all of this, the goalscorer did display an attitude that really separates top players.

For all the focus on “winners” and “getting over the line,” it’s often said in elite sport that the true key to that is how you deal with failure. Teammates of figures like Lionel Messi and Michael Jordan say they often had a certain “delusion” in the sense of not allowing defeats to foster self-doubt. They were immediately wiped.

There’s a bit of that with Kane and his last major World Cup moment in 2022. The captain says he doesn’t even think of the missed penalty in the 2-1 quarter-final defeat to France any more, despite it representing “the worst” he’d ever felt on a pitch.

“I don’t think about it too much now. After another major tournament, you get over it and get on with it. I scored a penalty in the semi-final of the Euros, which was as high-pressure as you are going to get. I always try and learn from those moments,” Kane said when discussing England’s ambition to claim World Cup glory next year.

“I’d say that was probably the worst that I felt in any moment. Obviously, I’ve lost finals before. To have that responsibility, you almost feel like it fell on my shoulders and I guess not being able to execute something that I’ve been trying to execute many a time in my career... I think that was the hardest part to process and take.

“But yeah, I think the way I learnt from that, the way that motivated me to get even better and improve, not just from the penalty side in terms of improving my technique, but as an all-round player.

“After that penalty, I went 31 attempts, I think, without missing. So I changed my technique a little bit, I improved in that sense, which I was proud of. And that’s always what I will try and do.”

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England captain Harry Kane leads the celebrations in Riga (PA Wire)

His manager, Thomas Tuchel, even joked that he was kind of “relieved” Kane recently missed one for Bayern Munich, against Wehen Wiesbaden in the German Cup, because it means he is not “due” a miss.

Kane’s attitude was nevertheless revealed in how he’s now targeting 100 goals for England, with his 76 now well ahead of Wayne Rooney’s previous record of 53. The 32-year-old feels he is now a far better player than at Tottenham Hotspur, especially in how he “sees” the game.

“The way I’m feeling right now, I’m not slowing down any time soon,” Kane remarked. “I want to stay at this level for as long as I can. I’m on 76 now, so that leaves 24, and we have a few more games between now and the World Cup, and then try and edge closer to that 100.

“I am extremely proud to have broken Rooney’s record and now to be going ahead, like I am. It is hard to process while I am still playing. In life, it’s always about the next moment and the next camp, the next game. I’m aware that it’s a special achievement.

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Kane scores his first, and England’s second, in Riga (Getty)

“The goals are there, and the numbers speak for themselves. The way I feel on the pitch, the way I am seeing the game, physically and without the ball, pressing, I feel in a really good place. And I feel like I am still learning, and that is down to the work we are doing at Bayern Munich as well as here. Always improving, and I feel like I have stepped up another level this season.”

Hence, Kane said it’s always about that next moment, not that last failure, as he told the group.

“I’ve been lucky enough to play in two World Cups now,” Kane pointed out. “I just think they are the greatest tournaments to be a part of. I spoke to some of the guys here who haven’t experienced that yet, trying to tell them how excited they should be, and it’s a great thing to look forward to. For me, it’s using those experiences to try and help some of the other lads, and for them, it’s just to go full gas and enjoy the experience.

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‘I feel like I have stepped up another level this season,’ says Kane (PA Wire)

“I said in the changing rooms, never take this for granted, but ultimately, we will come back in November and there are two more important games to carry on the momentum we are building so far.

“In terms of [France] being my last memory [of a World Cup], yeah, I’m looking forward to the next World Cup to try and put that right, to try and go further, to try and lift the trophy as we all dream of doing. And the opportunity is always there when that comes around. I think those moments only shape you as a person, as a player, and it’s definitely helped me to become a better player.”