Harry Kane’s final task of the finest season of a magnificent career is to attend to unfinished business as England’s World Cup captain. The 32-year-old will lead Thomas Tuchel’s side against Croatia in Dallas on 17 June, carrying the hopes of a nation desperate to end 60 years of men’s pain since 1966.
Kane is England’s ‘Mr Irreplaceable’ – as proved when Tuchel’s team were ominously toothless without him, drawing with Uruguay then losing to Japan in March friendlies at Wembley. On his return against New Zealand on Saturday, he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win, underlining his importance.
“Harry Kane, called 'irreplaceable', leads England's World Cup campaign against Croatia on 17 June after a record 66-goal season.”
As former England striker Chris Sutton told BBC Sport: “Harry Kane is so important that if he announced his international retirement this afternoon, everyone would instantly view England’s World Cup chances in a different, more pessimistic light.”
Kane’s fitness will be Tuchel’s biggest concern – not simply because he is England’s all-time record scorer with 79 goals in 113 games, but because no one else comes close to his class. If Kane stays fit, and in the remarkable form that brought him 66 goals in 56 games for Bayern Munich this season, England’s hopes will soar.
Silverware came late in Kane’s career after barren years at Tottenham Hotspur. He is now making up for lost time: a second successive Bundesliga with Bayern, then a hat‑trick as they beat Stuttgart 3-0 in the German Cup final. Now he has his sights set on delivering the biggest prize of all.
Kane has suffered the disappointment of losing successive European Championship finals – to Italy and Spain – as well as a World Cup semi‑final defeat by Croatia in 2018 and a quarter‑final loss to France in Qatar. Now his stellar form and fitness suggest the time might be right for England and their talisman to overcome that barrier.
Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson, who will be at their World Cup games as a BBC Radio 5 Live match analyst, says: “Kane is one player England can’t do without. Irreplaceable.” Tuchel has brought Ivan Toney into the squad; Robinson noted Toney’s 32 goals for Al‑Ahli as they won the Asian Champions League for the second season running.
England’s World Cup campaign starts on 17 June against Croatia in Dallas, the group stage described as a “trick” one to navigate. All eyes will be on Kane – the man who, as Sutton put it, makes England’s chances look entirely different.