Antoine Griezmann or Kylian Mbappé will have to notch four goals on Sunday to deny Harry Kane the Golden Boot. The Frenchmen would need to do what no player, including the hat-trick scorer Geoff Hurst, has managed in a World Cup final to prevent the 24-year-old from getting his hands on the glimmering trophy.
It is a remarkable achievement by Kane and would place him alongside legends such as Eusébio and Ronaldo as well as Gary Lineker, England’s only winner of the prestigious award.
Kane is unarguably a great striker – his goalscoring record for club and country attests to that – but a lacklustre display against Belgium intensified the feeling that his overall impact on this World Cup has been unremarkable. England would probably have been heading home after the group stages without Kane’s contribution, but as the tournament progressed he looked a shell of himself and expressed regret that he had not been on the scoresheet for England’s final three games against Sweden, Croatia and Roberto Martínez’s side.
“It shows we had a very good group stage,” he said. “We scored a lot of goals. Obviously, I’m disappointed I couldn’t get a goal in the last few games but that’s football. Sometimes it goes for you, sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll see if I do get it but if I do, it’ll be something I’m very proud of.”
The history books will not reflect the nature of Kane’s six goals but three were penalties, one a fortuitous deflection off his right heel, one a tap-in and a header from two yards – albeit a crucial stoppage-time one against Tunisia which played a key part in England avoiding another group-stage exit. But in terms of the post-tournament showreel he is unlikely to contribute in as eye-catching a way as Cristiano Ronaldo with a curling free-kick from 25 yards to make it 3-3 for Portugal against Spain, or Benjamin Pavard creating top spin of which Roger Federer would be envious as France came from behind to beat Argentina.
In England’s first two games, against Tunisia and Panama, Kane was an assured presence in front of goal, remaining calm to finish the chances created but, particularly in the case of the Central American team, he was facing limited opposition.
The knockout stage was a different story. Official statistics indicate Kane had seven attempted shots and only one was on target, against Colombia in the last 16, and that was a penalty. In fairness to Kane, he had two others against Croatia, presumably not counted because of an erroneous offside flag. The first was saved by Croatia’s goalkeeper Danijel Subasic and slow-motion replays – not shown live on ITV – have revealed he managed a second from the rebound. When England were 1-0 up and in the ascendancy, Kane was thought to have missed an open goal. Had he scored VAR would have overruled the official and England would have doubled their lead, making them overwhelming favourites to reach the final. It is now apparent that rather than a glaring miss it was in fact a brilliant stop by Subasic.
That should improve the way the public reflects on his contribution to this tournament but it does not change the fact he spent vast periods of the final three games wandering around the pitch like an unloved puppy.
In recent history, Golden Boot winners have inspired their nations to unexpectedly glorious results. It was suggested on Saturday that Kane’s influence on the tournament was perhaps closer to that of Oleg Salenko, who won the Golden Boot after scoring five goals against Cameroon in the group stages, from which Russia failed to advance.
That is unkind to Kane, who is prolific for club as well as country, scoring 41 goals for Tottenham last season and 28 or more goals in each of the past four campaigns.
But it felt like an indulgence to keep him on the pitch against Belgium, supporting a quest for a personal title rather than the team’s ambitions. After a long domestic season he appeared sapped of energy, although his lack of influence was also perhaps indicative of a wider absence of creativity in this England team.
Gareth Southgate defended his captain. “Today is the seventh game in a short period of time, and we’ve had incredible physical demands and emotional demands on the least experienced team in the tournament,” he said.
“I think it would be wrong to judge any player on today’s game if their energy levels were short. He’s captained the team exceptionally well. He’s led a culture we’re trying to create.”
