Harry Kane says England are “as good as we’ve ever had” after completing a perfect World Cup qualifying campaign with eight straight wins
ENGLAND CAPTAIN HARRY KANE declared the current squad “as good as we’ve ever had” after completing a flawless World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Albania.
The Bayern Munich striker scored twice in the closing stages in Tirana to secure England’s eighth consecutive Group K victory.
Kane has featured in England sides that reached two European Championship finals and a World Cup semi-final during his decade-long international career.
But he believes manager Thomas Tuchel has assembled the strongest group yet ahead of next year’s tournament.
“I think it’s as good as we’ve ever had,” Kane told ITV. “When you look at the starting 11, you look at the players coming off the bench, we’re going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.”
England became the first European team to complete a World Cup qualifying campaign of at least six matches with a perfect record and no goals conceded.
They scored 22 times en route to the 2026 tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico under Tuchel’s guidance.
Kane, who holds England’s scoring record with 78 goals, acknowledged tougher challenges await at the main event.
The 32-year-old expects England to mount a serious challenge for their first trophy since the 1966 World Cup triumph.
“We’ve been building, we’ve had a great year together with the new coach, and now we look forward to obviously a big 2026,” Kane said.
He emphasized the importance of maintaining standards after securing victory in their final match of the year.
“It was an important win. You don’t want to finish with a loss at the end of the year and then have to wait until March to play again,” Kane added. – AFP
