Harry Kane has finally beaten Wayne Rooney’s goal tally and the Tottenham man is now England’s all-time leading goalscorer following the two UEFA Euros qualifying fixtures this weekend.
It had been hoped the England captain would surpass the 53 goals during the Qatar World Cup Kane needed just one more match in order to score his 54th goal for country. In England’s first match of their qualifying campaign, the Three Lions travelled to Naples where they beat their Euros 2020 final nemesis 2-1 with Kane scoring a penalty just before half-time.
However, Kane was not finished and when he came to face Ukraine at Wembley, the Spurs striker was able to open up the scoring, scoring his 55th England goal in the 37th minute of the match. Bukayo Saka then sealed the deal as England defeated Ukraine 2-0.
The Three Lions will now have another, not quite so lengthy, spell off as they prepare for their third and fourth UEFA Euro qualifying matchdays against Malta and North Macedonia in June.
Kane, 29, has scored his 55 goals in 82 matches for England while his predecessor at the top of the rankings, Wayne Rooney, scored his 53 in 120. With the Spurs man now sitting at the top of the tree, let’s take a look at some big names he has passed on the way:
1. Vivian Woodward, 23 goals, 29 caps
Woodward was an centre forward for Tottenham Hotspur and enjoyed the peak of his career at the turn of the 20th century. He was England’s captain at the 1908 and 1912 Olympic Games, where he led his country to gold on both occasions. Woodward held the England goal-scoring record either jointly or alone for 47 years.
2. Tom Finney, 30 goals, 76 caps
Finney played for Preston North End and England. He made 433 appearances for his club in the league as well as 40 FA Cup appearances. Finney made his international debut in September 1946, just four weeks after his league debut. In 1958, Finney shared the record for all-time leading goalscorer with Nat Lofthouse when securing his 29th goal. In October of the same year, he netted his 30th goal becoming the sole holder of the record before Lofthouse equalled his tally just two weeks after.
3. Alan Shearer: 30 goals, 63 caps
England and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer is another holder of 30 goals for England. The striker made his international debut in 1990 for England U-21 and joined the senior squad in 1992. Shearer was the UEFA Euro 1996 top goal-scorer and the UEFA team of the tournament. Shearer captained his country on 34 occasions and now sits joint sixth in the list of all-time leading goalscorers, having scored his 30th goal in England’s match against Romania in the Euros 2000 tournament.
4. Nat Lofthouse: 30 goals, 33 caps
Lofthouse played just 33 times for England but managed to score on 30 occasions. He was an icon at Bolton Wanderers, making 452 appearances in the league and scored 255 goals in the process. Lofthouse made his last appearance for England in 1958, but was forced to officially retire from the game due to an ankle injury in 1960.