The secret to Harry Kane’s greatness – and why this World Cup is different | OneFootball

After Harry Kane put it into the top corner, and the bottom corner, Declan Rice maybe put it best after a remarkable 2-1 win over DR Congo.

England’s striker, Rice said, is just “inevitable”.

Kane is as close to a guarantee as you can get. This is why the England team is almost entirely built around their captain, it’s why descriptions of “the Harry Kane team” aren’t a total exaggeration.

Just look at the range he displayed in this very game to inspire this first come-from-behind England win in a World Cup knockout match since 1966.

The first goal, that essential equaliser, was about supreme striker individualism, the sort of goal you expect from him. Kane had finally been afforded that moment’s extra space, partly from his own instinct, and took full advantage to bury Anthony Gordon’s looped cross.

The second goal was something more, though.

It wasn’t a vintage striker capitalising on a half-chance. Instead, it was a dominant player taking full control.

There was a symbolism in how the match-winning moment came seconds after Jude Bellingham tried to force one. The Real Madrid forward has already offered two such goals of his own, to suggest how this will eventually become his team in the long term, but this wasn’t his best match. It was as if he was trying to force it, to the point he shot when he should have squared for Bukayo Saka. England needed someone else in Atlanta.

And Kane stepped up.

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Harry Kane of England applauds fans after the team's 2-1 victory (Getty)

The ball made its way to Kane, though, and he just made sure.

This was an elite player manifesting, bending such a game to his will.

Where Kane had previously laid the ball off or quickly taken a shot in such moments earlier on, here he took the ball on, worked his way through the Congolese bodies and found the space to bury his shot into the roof of the net.

It was an utterly emphatic strike, the nature of it reflecting the sheer will that Kane was asserting.

He wasn’t "letting this happen", as Thomas Tuchel later insisted.

You could say the finish itself was reminiscent of Alan Shearer, except Kane is a forward all of his own type.

The Bayern Munich striker just continues to demolish records. That’s five in this World Cup, 13 in all his World Cups, 72 just this season, 84 in his England career. The consistency of prolific scoring over so long is remarkable.

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England’s Harry Kane celebrates following the FIFA World Cup Round of 32 match at Atlanta Stadium (PA Wire)

The slight irony to that is that this was for a long time one of those games where there was credence to the idea that Kane at this stage of his career can occasionally present tactical issues. He wasn’t at his most mobile. There were moments when the ball bounced around the area, but Kane wasn’t exactly pouncing in the manner you’d expect from a poacher with his record.

You could have been forgiven for thinking this was the time to finally bring on Ollie Watkins or Ivan Toney.

Tuchel insisted it just never crossed his mind to take off Kane. He knows what the striker is about, that the other qualities are just overwhelmingly effective

He also knows this is different to the Kane that has turned up at recent tournaments and faced similar criticism, not least at Euro 2024.

The 32-year-old is in his best shape at a tournament since the 2018 World Cup. Teammates absolutely marvel at his incredible work ethic. “The training level is insane,” one source confided to the Independent. One England insider said on the eve of the World Cup: “We finally get a fully fit Harry Kane at a major tournament”.

And now we’re seeing exactly what that is.

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Players of England celebrate after the team's victory and progression to the Round of 16 (Getty)

It’s a player with the resilience, and capability, to do that. This is why you trust him, with almost everything.

And this isn’t all about the physical side to his game, either. There’s the psychological element to all of this.

Kane’s own previously iron belief has been bolstered by finally winning trophies with Bayern Munich. That does change a player, and has given Kane a more complete sense of himself.

Doubt is eroded.

That could be witnessed in another important way that Kane is influential.

As England trailed 1-0 for well over an hour, the players would have been fully aware of what this meant. The talk through the game was that this was another Iceland, maybe even worse.

Kane himself is one of four players in this squad, who were also involved in that dismal day 10 years ago.

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Harry Kane of England celebrates towards the fans in Atlanta (Getty)

Then, he was an increasingly brilliant goalscorer, but one still developing.

He has gone to another level as an all-round player, and part of that is the football intelligence to properly bring such experience to bear.

Kane knew to stay calm. He’s been through it, unlike many of his young teammates. Outside the 2-1 win over Slovakia at Euro 2024, after all, England hadn’t really experienced anything like this in 10 years. They could have buckled. You could see signs of that in the first 22 minutes, before the hydration break. Players were failing to control the ball properly, hitting wayward passes, allowing the ball to roll out under their feet.

Kane, the captain, was one of a few radiating composure, telling others to stay focused.

Afterwards, he duly made sure to tell them to actually enjoy this.

Sure, it might have been close to disaster, but there’s no point dwelling on that. It's in adversity, after all, where spirit is formed; where focus is sharpened.

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Harry Kane wheels away in delight after scoring for England (Getty)

Kane also has an extra focus on his own.

If Kane is naturally sensationally single-minded about winning this World Cup with England, he is obviously attuned to the wider context, too.

Tuchel spoke afterwards about how players like Kane see what their peers are doing, how Kylian Mbappe is scoring, how Erling Haaland is scoring.

The sense of competitiveness does drive them, but there’s more to it than that.

“They're all sharks,” Tuchel said. “They smell blood, they score. They're sharks.”

Kane is not just bringing that mentality to England. He’s deciding games with it - and driving England's World Cup.