Harry Kane bagged a brace against Croatia to move level Gary Lineker as England’s all-time record World Cup goalscorer.
Thomas Tuchel’s side eventually found their feet against a tough Croatian side, who pressed high and were certainly full of intent in the first-half.
Player
England caps
England goals
World Cup goals
Gary Lineker
80
48
10
Harry Kane
115
81
10
Sir Geoff Hurst
49
24
5
Michael Owen
89
40
4
Sir Bobby Charlton
106
49
4
It even looked at one stage like they were destined to take a point following an entertaining first period, only for Jude Bellingham to shut that down before some fans were back in their seats to start the second half.
If anyone was questioning the standards that Tuchel and his staff hold this current England side to, then the scathing words of assistant manager Anthony Barry should have provided a resounding answer at the break.
With the cameras rolling, he delivered a brutal assessment, and whatever was said in the dressing room clearly worked wonders.
Despite arguably the most convincing attacking display of the tournament so far however, it still wasn’t enough to convince Danny Mills that Kane would be good enough to start over an England legend.
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Mills backs Rooney to replace Kane in current England side
Speaking to Football FanCast in association with betTOM, Mills claimed that Wayne Rooney would be better than Kane in this current England side.
The former Leeds and England man was asked which ‘Golden Generation’ player would get in the current side, and believes that the Manchester United legend would “score hat-tricks for fun” in Tuchel’s team.
“Wayne Rooney walks into this current team for me – ahead of Harry Kane. Wayne in his prime had absolutely everything. I dread to think how many goals Wayne would have scored in this generation where nobody could touch him; he would be scoring hattricks for fun.”
It would certainly be a battle to remember between Kane and Rooney. The former has already overtaken the Man United legend to become England’s top scorer by some distance and could go one better by becoming a World Cup-winning captain this summer.
But there’s no denying that if Tuchel’s side were blessed with Rooney at the peak of his powers, then they may well have the most complete attack in the tournament.
Read next: What we learned from England 4-2 Croatia
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