England captain Harry Kane believes just lifting the trophy at next year’s World Cup will be enough to satisfy the Three Lions squad and supporters.
Thomas Tuchel led England to a flawless qualifying campaign for FIFA’s flagship tournament, winning all eight matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding none.
England have won their last ten league matches by a scoreline, equaling the record for a European country, while Spain did so between October 2014 and June 2016.
And their reward was a place in Group L at the World Cup, alongside Ghana, Croatia and Panama, with the hope of achieving world fame for the first time since 1966.
England have reached the latter stages of the last two editions, being beaten in the semi-finals by Croatia in 2018 and in the quarter-finals by France three years ago, while they have also reached the finals twice at the European Championship, losing to Italy and Spain respectively.
Kane (eight) trails only Gary Lineker (10) in terms of goals scored by an English player at a World Cup, but the Bayern Munich captain is trying to block out the noise surrounding the Three Lions in a bid to lead them to the trophy.
“I think we are now at the stage where only a win will satisfy ourselves and satisfy the country,” Kane said.
“We felt that a bit at the last European Championship. We reached the final and there was still a lot of negative noise around us.
“We knew the noise would continue unless we got the win, and that’s what happened, that’s part of it.
“The success we have built since 2018, World Cup semi-finals, a final, quarter-final and another final, we have been knocking on the door and we have consistently been one of the best teams in the world.
“Going into this tournament there is an expectation. We are fourth in the world rankings, people see us as one of the favourites. We have to recognize that and take that into the tournament and deal with that pressure.”
“We’ve had a lot of good things as a national team, a lot of good moments in the last eight years, but ultimately for me now it’s about winning, about winning the biggest trophies.
“We definitely have the quality to do it, now it’s about having the quality to deal with those moments.
“Every time a big tournament happens it’s the pinnacle of your career, the pinnacle of the pressure you feel and the excitement you feel, so I’m curious to see how I deal with that and how the team does as well.”
Kane made a blistering start to the 2025/26 season, scoring 32 goals in 29 games in all competitions for Bayern, more than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues (Kylian Mbappe is second with 29 goals).
The 31-year-old will lead England at the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico in what he believes remains the biggest honor of his career.
“I think sometimes when you’re in it, you don’t realize what you’re doing and how young you are,” Kane said.
“It was always a dream for me to play for England, but captaining England was the highlight of my career.
“I was always a big England fan growing up, more than a club fan, so it was always an achievement I wanted to complete.
“I’ve been lucky enough to do it for a long time, the years go by quickly. I never take it for granted, I know how much it means.”
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