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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Tom Doyle

Harry Kane becomes England's highest-ever goalscoring captain

Harry Kane made history in England's 1,000th game on Thursday night as the striker became the country's highest-ever goalscoring captain.

Since being formally named as England skipper ahead of the 2018 World Cup, Kane has not not let the armband affect his instincts in front of goal.

The Tottenham star headed into Thursday's Euro 2020 qualifier on 27 goals for England, and a first-half hat-trick took him to 31 - one ahead of Alan Shearer.

The quick-fire treble sent Kane sixth in England's all-time goal rankings, with the 26-year-old sitting behind Michael Owen (40), Jimmy Greaves (44), Gary Lineker (48), Sir Bobby Charlton (49) and Wayne Rooney (53).

Former England striker Gary Lineker tweeted: "A first half hat trick for @HKane and he goes past @alanshearer in the list of England goal-scorers.

"I would suggest, for context, that Shearer's goals would've been scored against significantly stronger opposition."

Kane has a superior strike rate (0.72) to all those ahead of him apart from Greaves (0.77), and needs another 23 goals to take top spot away from Rooney.​

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