Thanks to his goal against Senegal, Harry Kane added another record to his collection by becoming the all-time England men’s major tournament top goal scorer. But who is in the top five of that list?
The Three Lions’ current captain is also tantalisingly close to another stat. Kane stands just one goal shy of Wayne Rooney’s all-time England goal record of 53. The Spurs star will, therefore, hope to grab a record-equalling goal in the World Cup quarterfinal against France.
He already leads a list of England legends when it comes to major tournament goals, though.
#5: Geoff Hurst and Michael Owen – six goals
Coming in joint-fifth on the England major tournament top goal scorer list are Geoff Hurst and Michael Owen.
The hat-trick hero from the 1966 World Cup final, Hurst has five World Cup goals to his name. Hurst’s only Euros strike came at EURO 1968, where he netted during England’s 2-0 third-place play-off win over the USSR.
Similarly, Michael Owen has a lower output at European Championships compared to World Cups. The former Liverpool and Newcastle forward scored one goal each at EURO 2000 and EURO 2004 respectively.
But Owen really burst onto the scene at the 1998 World Cup. He scored twice in France, including his iconic solo goal against Argentina. The forward then followed this up with two goals at the 2002 tournament but did not score in Germany 2006.
#4: Wayne Rooney – seven goals
Already the England all-time top scorer, Wayne Rooney also sits in fourth on the major tournament goal list.
However, the former Man United forward arguably underperformed at World Cups during his career. Rooney got one goal across three tournaments, his only strike coming in a 2-1 loss v Uruguay in 2014.
In contrast, Rooney announced himself to the world at EURO 2004. He got four goals in four matches at that tournament as England went out in the quarterfinals. He then added a strike at both EURO 2012 and 2016 to his overall tally.
#3: Alan Shearer – nine goals
A powerful striker and leading figure for England, Alan Shearer registered nine major tournament goals during his prolific career. Shearer is the Three Lions’ all-time leading EUROs scorer as a result, with seven goals.
The bulk of these came at EURO 1996, where the forward’s five strikes earned him the tournament’s golden boot. He added two more goals at EURO 2000, too.
But Shearer only played at one World Cup in an England shirt, where he found the net twice. Unfortunately, though, England exited France 1998 at the round of 16 stage.
#2: Gary Lineker – ten goals
The first entrant on double figures, Gary Lineker is the man who recently lost his record to Harry Kane.
Bizarrely, all of Lineker’s major tournament goals for England came at the World Cup. Despite featuring at EURO ’88 and ’92, the former Leicester and Spurs man did not find the net. He did get two assists, though.
But thanks to his prolific World Cup rate, he is second on this list. At Mexico ’86, Lineker bagged six goals, including a hat-trick against Poland in the group stage. These six strikes earned him the golden boot at that World Cup.
Then, at Italia ’90, the forward again proved a vital contributor with four goals as England reached the semi-finals.
#1: Harry Kane – eleven goals
Now at number one, Harry Kane has been the focal point for England at two of their best tournament performances since 1966.
His first World Cup, in 2018, saw Kane captain England to the semi-finals. He won the golden boot in Russia, his six goals leading everyone in the tournament. In addition, like Gary Lineker, Kane scored a group stage hat-trick. His came during England’s 6-1 win against Panama.
The Spurs forward added to his World Cup tally in Qatar, during Sunday’s 3-0 win over Senegal.
At the Euros, Harry Kane has four goals from eleven appearances. He went goalless at EURO 2016, however, fared much better at EURO 2020. Kane scored four goals at last year’s tournament, with all of them coming in the knockout stage and beyond.
England fans will hope that he keeps adding to his status as the Three Lions’ all-time major tournament leading goal scorer.
Featured image credit: Getty
