Harry Kane believes the current England squad is “as good as we’ve ever had” after the captain ended his record-breaking World Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 win against Albania on Sunday.
Bayern Munich striker Kane struck twice in the closing stages of Tirana to give Thomas Tuchel’s side a perfect eight consecutive Group K wins.
The 32-year-old has played for England who finished second at the European Championship twice and also reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.
But Kane believes Tuchel has assembled the best group during his decade in the national team and has labeled them as one of the favorites to win the World Cup next year.
“I think it’s as good as we’ve ever had,” Kane said ITV. “I think if you look at the starting XI, you look at the players coming off the bench, we go into the tournament as one of the favourites.
READ | Kane shines as England end their World Cup qualifying campaign with a perfect record
«We have to accept that. We have been that way in the last few tournaments, and that is part of it.»
England have become the first European team to complete a World Cup qualifying campaign of at least six matches and win every match without conceding a goal.
It scored 22 times away to the United States, Canada and Mexico as Tuchel found a winning formula after a slow start to his reign.
Kane, who has scored a record 78 goals for his country, knows that much tougher tests lie in wait in the tournament proper.
But he expects England to mount a serious challenge for their first trophy since the 1966 World Cup.
“We’ve built, we’ve had a great year together with the new coach, and now we’re obviously looking forward to a big 2026,” Kane said.
“I think we’ve set the standard now, especially in the last few camps, and we’ve carried that into this camp.
«It was an important win. You don’t want to end the year with a loss and then have to wait until March to play again. We can go out now and enjoy this.»
Published on November 17, 2025
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