The Three Lions skipper bagged twice in the 2-0 win over Albania on Sunday…
Harry Kane believes England will travel to next year’s World Cup among the strongest challengers after completing a flawless qualifying campaign.
England wrapped up their group with an eighth straight victory on Sunday, seeing off Albania 2-0. Kane delivered both goals and extended the team’s remarkable defensive record, with the Three Lions finishing the campaign without conceding.
Reflecting on the current squad’s strength compared with previous England groups, the captain said: “I think it is as good as we have ever had. When you look at the starting XI, when you look at the players coming off the bench, we are going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.
“We have to accept that. We have been like that for the last few tournaments, and that’s part and parcel of it. We have been building. We have had a great year together with the new coach and now we look forward to a big 2026.”
Albania made life difficult for England for long spells, limiting clear-cut chances and frustrating the visitors until the final quarter of the match.
The breakthrough arrived on 74 minutes when Kane forced in a Bukayo Saka corner at close range.
Marcus Rashford, introduced from the bench, then provided the assist for the second, delivering a precise cross that Kane powered home with a header to seal the points.
Kane stressed the importance of contributions from across the squad, saying: “Look, if you are going to go far in any tournament, you need the whole squad. You need the players who don’t start to come off the bench and make an impact. That is what football is about. It is not just the XI that start.“We are going to need everyone and the guys who came on today made a difference.”
The striker added that finishing the year on a high was crucial: “This 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. We can go away and enjoy this now.
“I think it was a really tough game, probably one of the toughest games we have had in the group. We had to be patient. We had to grind them down – defensively, they are really solid – and we did that.
“We ended up with a 2-0 win, another clean sheet, and we can be really happy.”
