The Pele parallels that Harry Kane hopes may take England to World Cup glory | OneFootball

Harry Kane has taken one record that used to belong to Wayne Rooney and, before him, to Sir Bobby Charlton. He has another that was long held by Jimmy Greaves. The highest scorer in the history of both England and Tottenham Hotspur has inherited the centre-forward’s role at Bayern Munich that is indelibly associated with Gerd Muller and Robert Lewandowski. There is a chance he could claim the record for most goals in a Bundesliga campaign, which each of his predecessors has held.

A man often discussed in the same sentence as greats could find himself along, or even above, another on Sunday. Kane has 76 international goals. Pele got 77. And Kane faces Albania, who have already conceded five times to him. The odds are that Pele will soon have company.

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Harry Kane is nearing Pele’s international goal tally (PA Wire)

“To be around a name like Pele speaks for itself,” said Kane. “Sometimes when you’re in it, it’s hard to process some of the names you’re around or the things you’re achieving. You just want to go onto the next one. Hopefully to score and go level with Pele, who had such an inspirational international career, just shows how far I’ve come through my career.”

Pele’s legend reflects more than sheer volume of goals. Kane has a World Cup Golden Boot, but Pele scored three in the finals of World Cups. He, and Brazil, won the first World Cup played in Mexico. Now it will host part of the 2026 tournament. Kane can hope the parallels continue.

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Harry Kane in action against Serbia in September (Getty)

He is aware, too, that the individual honours can go to those who win the biggest games, not simply those who end up with the most goals. “Ultimately I could score 100 goals this season but if I don’t win the Champions League or the World Cup, you’re probably not going to win the Ballon d’Or,” he reflected. “It’s the same with [Erling] Haaland, it’s the same with any player. You have to be winning those major trophies. With the way the season is going as a team with Bayern Munich, it looks like we’re in great shape. It looks like we’re one of the favourites for the Champions League, for sure. So that maybe makes the odds a little bit more in my favour. Same with England. I think we’re going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.”

And if there is a bullishness to that, Kane finds himself in teams with 100 per cent records: England in World Cup qualifying, Bayern in the Champions League. He was lured to Bavaria by his England manager, Thomas Tuchel. “He was the main reason why I ended up going to Bayern Munich, first and foremost,” Kane said. “I love his energy, I love what he wanted to do and how he wanted to play. So, having that relationship from the first moment I met him sets up you on a good path.”

Tuchel has got Kane back on the right track with England. At the corresponding point of last season, Kane was demoted to the bench by caretaker manager Lee Carsley, for a 3-0 win in Greece. Tuchel restored his primacy in attack but that slight followed Euro 2024, when he had looked off the pace, shorn of sharpness and sometimes needing to be substituted, whether or not he actually was.

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Thomas Tuchel has got Harry Kane back to his best (PA)

“There was a lot of talk about where I was physically, going into the last tournament,” Kane added. “And if I compare it to how I feel now, I’d say I’m definitely fitter and sharper now. That was maybe off the back of a couple of little injuries that I picked up towards the end of the season.”

This season has gone swimmingly, in contrast. Kane, who had an infamously long wait to win silverware in any club’s colours, is on course for a second successive Bundesliga with Bayern. When they beat Paris Saint-Germain, with Kane scoring, it enhanced their claim to be the best team in Europe on current form. England qualified for the World Cup with two games to spare, allowing them more time to prepare.

And Kane, an admirer of Tom Brady, has an American-style idea in mind of what to do. Arsenal can be the Premier League’s set-piece specialists and Declan Rice is their finest taker. England were propelled to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals in part because of their excellence from corners. Kane thinks similar methods could serve them well.

“We want to build a book of set plays where we can go into the tournament where there is not a lot of time to practice it,” he said. “You want to also have like an NFL playbook in a way where you look at the opposition and see if they are zonal or man-mark and we can pick what we want to do and ultimately, the best team at set plays normally go on to be the best team in the tournament.”

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Harry Kane had to wait for his first taste of success (AP)

And the World Cup final will be played at the home of two NFL teams, the New York Jets and the New York Giants. Pele ended up in New York, too, playing for the Cosmos. And if Kane joins him in the band of World Cup winners, the chances are that he will then have overtaken him for goals.