Harry Kane became England’s all-time top scorer in March 2023, converting a penalty against Italy in Naples to move ahead of Wayne Rooney on 54 goals. He did it in 81 caps. Rooney needed 120 to reach 53. The gap in efficiency between the two is not subtle.
Since breaking that record, Kane has not slowed down. As of March 2026, he has 78 England goals in 112 caps, and his continued form for club and country makes him one of the most bankable strikers in world football. He will be vital to the Three Lions’ chances this summer, who are among the top contenders in this year’s World Cup betting odds.
Here is a look at every England record Kane currently holds, and the one he is still chasing.
All-time top scorer
The headline record. Kane surpassed Rooney’s mark of 53 goals with his 54th against Italy in a UEFA European Championship qualifier, and he has not looked back since. His current tally of 78 goals gives him a goals-per-cap ratio of 0.70, a number that puts him in a different category to any England striker who has come before him. For context, Rooney’s ratio was 0.44 across his 120 appearances.
Bobby Charlton is third on the all-time list with 49 goals, now more than 25 behind Kane. The record, for however long it stands, is Kane’s by a distance.
Most goals in a calendar year
In 2021, Kane scored 13 England goals across a single calendar year, a record no England player had reached before. The total included two first-half hat-tricks against San Marino and Albania in World Cup qualification, and it came in a year where he was also captaining the side through Euro 2020.
That record still stands. No England player has scored more in a single calendar year, and given the compressed international schedule, it will take an exceptional run of form to beat it.
World Cup top scorer
Kane won the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia with six goals, finishing as the tournament’s top scorer. He became the first England player to win the award since Gary Lineker in 1986, and only the second in the country’s history.
In Qatar four years later, he added two more World Cup goals, taking his tally across the two tournaments to eight. No England player has scored more goals in World Cup history, putting him ahead of Lineker’s six.
England captain since 2018
Kane was handed the England captaincy by Gareth Southgate ahead of the 2018 World Cup and has held it ever since. By the time the 2026 World Cup concludes in North America, he will have captained England across three major tournaments, the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and Euro 2024.
In terms of goals scored while wearing the armband, he is already comfortably the most prolific captain in England’s history. No previous captain came close to scoring at the rate Kane has while leading the side.
The record he still has left to break
Peter Shilton’s caps record of 125 is the one remaining landmark Kane has not yet reached. At 112 appearances and 32 years old, he needs 14 more to surpass Shilton, and with the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico on the horizon, that total is well within reach. England supporters keen to follow his progress through the tournament can find free bets on Sky Bet ahead of the competition.
Shilton accumulated his 125 caps across 20 years, between 1970 and 1990. Kane has reached 112 in just over a decade. If he continues through the tournament and beyond, he could realistically finish his international career as both England’s all-time top scorer and most capped outfield player. Depending on squad selection in the coming years, the caps record could fall before the decade is out.
