At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Harry Kane needed four matches and 269 minutes before he even registered a shot on target. He looked fatigued early on, and I thought he could have used a rest after England’s first two games.
This time it’s completely different—after scoring twice in the 4-2 win over Croatia, he’ll feel on top of the world.
For a striker at a major tournament, the biggest goal is to start well. I was fortunate to do that for England in our opening win over Tunisia at the 1998 World Cup. Honestly, it was a huge relief—not just to win, but to score as captain and main goalscorer when everyone expected me to deliver.
For the same reasons, I know Kane will feel exactly the same after his performance on Wednesday. He spent the week with the squad watching others—France’s Kylian Mbappé, Norway’s Erling Haaland and Argentina’s Lionel Messi—already up and running with at least two goals each.
Kane would have been desperate to join them, and getting off the mark inside 12 minutes, then adding another, is massive for him and for England. In Qatar, his first shot on target didn’t come until the last 16 against Senegal, and he scored. Now he’s got that feel-good factor from the start, and we’ve seen what that can spark—at Russia 2018 he bagged five in England’s first two games, on the way to the Golden Boot and a run to the semi-finals.
With arguably the toughest game in Group L done and Ghana and Panama to come, he’ll be licking his lips.