Harry Kane - Best English striker ever?

May 18, 2026 -- 7:01PM, CLYDEBANK29 wrote:

Worth noting that when Shearer played in CL for Blackburn, they didn't qualify out of a group including (from memory) Spartak Moscow, Rosenborg and Legia Warsaw.

Yeah, but my point was that Bayern are an elite team surrounded by dross. Blackburn of that time were just one of a bunch of mediocre teams. Scoring 30 goals against a bunch of teams that are nearly as good as you is perhaps a better achievement than scoring 40 when the gulf between you and the opposition is vast.

Kane's goals per game ratio is far better than Shearer's, both for club and country. Plus he's a better all round player. Drops deep and provides defence splitting passes for the runners in behind.

Also got to two finals with England and a semi final. Shearer got to one semi and that was only because Spain had about three onside goals chalked off in the quarter final.

To avoid bias I have not contributed to this thread, aside from a little banter with Wes. I will add though that all of the strikers mentioned have been good strikers and worthy of consideration in this debate, which should make England proud that they have produced such talent over the years. Where's the next bunch coming from I wonder?

Yes, I believe so. He's not recognised by some diehards. I do not know why. He's performed for his club, Spurs, and country repeatedly. He's confounded his critics since going to Bayern Munich; he's overachieved there. This is not an overstatement; his goals at club level and European competitions speak volume.

I hope he stays injury-free and continues to perform at this level. Mr Kane is modest, unassuming, approachable and down to earth. He's also a very good footballer!

If you can start just 25 Bundesliga games from max 34 games and go on to score 36 goals, you know it's a weak league, someone on talksport this morning said people close to Kane have said he's surprised how easy he's found it to score over there, that's because most of the clubs are Championship level.

The most amount of goals scored in a 38 game Premier League season is 36, that's happened once in it's history, next on the list is Salah with 32.

That's not to say that if you had put Kane in the Man City treble winning team, that he couldn't have scored 36 goals that season, because I think he could of. But using Bundesliga stats, where a few years ago Lewandowski scored 41 goals in a season, to elevate someone's standing in the game, is just silly.

He has to turn up in a big final, not enjoy easy draws to finals that he's had with England, then losing to the first half decent team. If he wins the World Cup and is a key player, he'll probably win the Balon D'or, then nobody would ever question him. But realistically, England will lose to France in the quarters again.

Kane might have improved for the boost in confidence scoring
more consistently brings, we shall see at World Cup.

Looking at Ronaldo at man utd, he hit 30+ goals in 07/08 but was sub 20
in 06/07 then again in 08/09 and 09/10.. It's a tough league.

Ruud van nistelrooy was 20+ 4 of his 5 seasons at man utd
but peaked at 25, he really was a top striker, and those 2
set a bar worthy of comparison...

Van persie hit 30 at arsenal and 26 at man utd back to back
but was sub 20 rest of time, 1 x 18, next best 12.

Only 2 seasons ago the BL got more coefficient points than the PL.  Freiburg have made the EL final.  It's not that weak a league, though it is clearly weaker than the PL.  That's not by any means a defining point.  Kane's PL record in a much stronger PL is better than Shearer's.  Probably Spurs were a generally weaker team compared to their opponents than Blackburn and Newcastle were to their's.  The only mitigating factor is that goal expectancy generally has increased over that 20-30 year time frame.

Plus I agree with all the points Clarky made

Shearer was a decent player when not up top.

I'd guess he created more goals for himself than most strikers
and was an excellent passer, crosser when opportunity arose.

But strikers have different roles in different teams

I suspect a trophy might have been won had Shearer been
available to Southgate.

Kane dropping deep just encourages teams and allows
them to press us back, and he then lacks the pace to hurt
them.

Of course it's a weak league, that's why Lewandowski was able to score 41 league goals in 29 league games, and why Kane has twice scored 36 goals in 32 matches and 31 matches respectively, yet nobody has ever score more than 36 goals in 38 Premier League games, Salah next on 32 from 38. And Kane and Lewandowski both achieved their feat in their 30's.

And it's also why Bayern have won 13 league titles from the last 14 seasons, they outspend all the other German clubs on wages and they can't compete.

Bayern also the only German club to have won the CL in nearly 30 years, there's been 4 different English clubs to have won it during that time, maybe 5 if Arsenal win it but unlikely that happens. Same in Europa League, since Germany football peaked in 97 when Shalke won the UEFA cup in the same year Dortmund won the CL, there's been 4 different English winners, 1 German. The Premier League has also had a boat load more finalists in both comps.

Kane is a great player, but there's far too much recency bias these days, people forget how good players were from the past. I think Shearer had a remarkable goals to game ratio considering the terrible injuries he had to come back from.

Also gotta remember Freiburg got through after turning round a first leg defeat when Braga had a man sent off in the 7th minute. Not that a knock out comp should ever really be used as a strong measure of quality anyway.

The UEFA coefficients tell you how strong the league is.  It's not rocket science.  It's a weaker league than the PL but it's not a weak league.  There are over 50 leagues in Europa and it's probably never been out of the top 4 for nearly 50 years.  That the PL is the top league in Europe (and much stronger than it was in Shearer's age) is only to Kane's credit and strengthens his argument.

Going to Germany, playing for the most dominant club that's now won 13 of the last 14 Bundesliga titles, and racking up a goals to game ratio that could never be achieved in the Premier League, doesn't strengthen his argument, how many goals do you think a Rooney or Shearer would have scored over there?

Until Kane turns up in a big final, a Champions League (if he ever gets there with Bayern) or a World Cup final, then he's never going to be looked at as a real great, winning the Bundesliga doesn't cut it. Shearer at least won the Premier League off of the back of a strong Man United team winning the two previous titles, then they went onto win the 2 after Blackburn's win. Kane has done what Thierry did at Barca, piggy backing off of other teams success, they would have won the Bundesliga titles without him and with some other half decent striker in place.

May 19, 2026 -- 3:31PM, CLYDEBANK29 wrote:

The UEFA coefficients tell you how strong the league is.

I don't think the overall coefficient is that good a guide when one team is skewing it so much. Same as PSG and France. Germany is just behind Spain this season, but a R Madrid v B Dortmund match up would be priced up one-sided.


It's not that it's necessarily a weak league (though I think it's far weaker than it has been in recent years) it's that the gulf between Bayern and the rest is massive. PSG and their players are earning plaudits for their exploits in Europe. The Georgian lad could probably be considered the best player in the world right now. And that's really based on CL games. No one would look twice at them just based on winning Ligue 1 every year, because look at the finances, of course they'll win the league every year.

Look at Ronaldo at man utd going to Spain which is pretty much on par with germany

Lots of evidence suggests kane is an excellent striker
but maybe none that's he's significantly better, nor significantly inferior to some
other top English strikers,

I agree with the OP, Kane is simply the best English striker ever, no arguments.

Jimmy Greaves
Total Career Club Goals 422 goals in 602 appearances
First Division Top Scorer 6 seasons (an all-time record)
44 goals in 57 caps for England

If Harry Kane had played in this era he would have spent half of it in a horizontal position or the hospital.

Cloughie 0.92 goals per match - highest in league history .(I know , not top flight but he was bloody sharp ) .

Lineker was the best.
He did it at the top level.

Shearer was better than kane, lineker also. But jimmy greaves was wow.

Bayern not playing against Stuttgart in cup final, out nothing Hazza has scored 2 goals so far. 8 mins and inj time left.

Hat trick.

Good send off for Kane.

Keep saying - the guy is a fkn footballing terrorist.

^ to Alien & Clydebank re Harry

bobby charlton though not really a striker still the best england ever produced, scored in the 66 world cup important goals , 2 winning goals in the semi final, another 2 for man utd in european cup final, 49 goals in 100 odd caps , hardly ever took penalties, , bobby was a winner, scored and created against the major opponents for club and country ,

Kane is by far the best

he cannot imo be called the best until he scores or really performs on the really big stage, never has, and please dont say he scored a hatrick in the german cup final as a big match

He was joint top scorer at the last Euros...

3 goals in 7 games, including a pelanty,

To be fair to Kane, he hasn't committed, and got away with even after dying, the stuff Charlton did.

'3 goals in 7 games, including a pelanty'

If he was joint top scorer the 'world class' players didn't do any better

Cody Gakpo, Harry Kane, Jamal Musiala, Georges Mikautadze, Dani Olmo and Ivan Schranz all finished on 3 goals.

Not sure if you think being on par with them equates
to world class, or if they are all world class, or if
3 goals in 7 games, playing 6 easy games, apparently,
has any real significance at all.

World class and Euros arent the same.Theres a clue there.

ashbourne is Harry Kane's dad - NAP

I would say his mother.

'World class and Euros arent the same.Theres a clue there'

So European players can't be world class?

Do all world class players play in euros?

'ashbourne is Harry Kane's dad' His wife :)

Nostalgia - when Jack Wilshere was the greatest England player.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cvg5de1dyn2o


Even the smug mug Lineker agrees.

But the World Cup finalist and Champions League winner Didi Hamann instead has called it exactly how it is with Kane

https://x.com/DanielHussey2/status/2067376197424623742

that needs to be watched.

I'll save you all the time, he never really does it when it matters. But he's great against your clapped out Croatia's,  lightweight Panama's and Africa's finest, Tunisia.

great strikers not only score goals , they  also are instrumentalto their team win trophies , they score winning goals etc in the really top matches, mullers, ronaldo, rush, pele , charlton,   Kane doesnt and hasnt won a single meaningful trophy yet,

Didi Hamann lol.
He loves being a contrarian.
Bear in mind, Kane spent the best part of his career at average Spuds he still scored plenty of goals.
With England, I'd suggest Southgate has been a stifling effect - a handbrake manager.
Suddenly with Tuchel, attacking play is back in fashion.

elisjohn All those you mention were in great teams with great players around them.

Everything he said was right.

Nobody doubts his ability, they question what he does in big moments. He has been surrounded by quality with England, can't use Southgate as an excuse.

He had chances in the World Cup semi final against Croatia, did nothing, World Cup Quarter Final v France, scored a penalty, missed a penalty, nothing to do with Southgate, both Euro finals, went missing both times. Champions League final v Liverpool, AWOL.

He'll go down as a great goal scorer, but will be completely eclipsed by the likes of Mbappe and would only ever be a footnote in conversations about great players. Win the World Cup with England and actually play a key part in the knockouts then maybe it's a different conversation.

As it stands he's scored 10 World Cup goals, 2x Tunisia (Groups), 3x Panama - 2 Pens - (Groups), 1x Colombia - Pen - (2nd round), 1x Senegal (2nd Round), 1x France - Pen - (Quarters), 2x Croatia - 1 Pen - (Groups)

So you've got 5 penalties from his 10 World Cup goals. No outfield goals in the last 8. And most goals against mug nations.

Too many excuses made. He has to do it when it matters.

Walofs.

Everything there is correct, he's never won anything or note, never done anything of note when it matters.

The title of the space is whether he's the best ENGLISH striker ever.
On that basis, he's not up against much.
Furthermore, if your criteria for being a top player is measured by medals, on that basis Giroud is ahead of Maradona.

I've never seen an Arsenal fan cherish a Tottenham man more than you, it is peculiar.

I was replying to elishjohns post about how great strikers are instrumental in their teams winning trophies, and of course he is correct.

Best English forward ever can't be someone who's never won anything meaningful can it, it's also massive recency biasm.
I'd imagine those old enough to remember Greaves would probably say him, many others would say Shearer who did win something meaningful, albeit only once.

Kind Regards.

BTW mes, you lot got Coventry at home on the Friday night to start the new season, you can go in our fantasy league this year and triple up on Arsenal players in week 1

I bombed hard in fpl last year, worst ever season hands down, though I basically tanked after October as I had other things going on, at least that's my excuse. Made transfers but poor ones as I wasn't following the game properly.

Tuned in on the last match day however to watch Andy from LetsTalkFpl lose his s*** when the site crashed and he couldn't make any transfers, he was dropping the F bomb every few seconds

Why did you stop posting on the thread?

Wasn't on the forum for a few months, had other distractions in real life etc

mes, I'm a student of the sport - recency bias doesn't affect me.

The fact Harry was a Spud is irrelevant.
So name the English strikers who were better?
If you say Greaves, how much did he win?

He could say Rooney, 16 major trophies including multiple EPL winner and champions league winner, great goalscorer and equally adept at dropping deeper and spraying it around like Kane.

Rooney more talented, more flair, better on the ball, great touch, worked harder - saw him play for Everton v Man City ay City when they were getting beat 5-0 and he was still running around like a mad bastard taking throw ins/corners/free kicks. Great attitude. Kane is a bit of a flat track bully.

The thread title says striker, not player, a striker is there for goals and glory. Kane was practically in between our centre halves against Croatia receiving and spraying the ball, what's that about, get yourself up the pitch ffs.

The reality is he hardly ever does it when it matters, your lavishing praise on someone because he likes to drop deep and be an all round player, he might be a better all round player than Shearer / Fowler / Sheringham / Wright / Greaves etc, but as an actual striker in the final third, he's no better than those aforementioned names is he. There's 2 different conversations, you win the all round player debate, but the striker debate is debatable. Maybe because in 2026 his competition for English strikers are your Watkins, Calvert-Lewin's, Toney's, Welbecks etc, it skewers people's thinking as most people have recency biasm or are not old enough to remember those players.

I even saw a recent Harry Maguire interview with Ian Wright and even Maguire said Wright was before his time. And Kane was not more lethal than Wright who broke the Arsenal all time goal scoring record between the age of 28-35.

Kind Regards

Roy Race was the best striker ever

43 Caps 52 Goals , a good strike rate

Harvey Elliot took the p*** out of Harry Kane. Wonder how he feels his career has turned out in comparison :)

mesmerised, I don't watch any German football so don't know how Kane plays for Bayern. As A Spurs and England supporter, I am pleased that he is an round player. He prevented a load of goals against Spurs as a last defender and does the same for England. Why? because he is captain and clearly doesn't have confidence in the back 4 defence at corners. His ability to come back and defend puts him well ahead of the other names you mention.

Super Mac was half decent,,,,

Had two bow legs,,,but only used one,,,

The thread title says striker, not player, a striker is there for goals and glory. Kane was practically in between our centre halves against Croatia receiving and spraying the ball, what's that about, get yourself up the pitch ffs.

The reality is he hardly ever does it when it matters, your lavishing praise on someone because he likes to drop deep and be an all round player, he might be a better all round player than Shearer / Fowler / Sheringham / Wright / Greaves etc, but as an actual striker in the final third, he's no better than those aforementioned names is he. There's 2 different conversations, you win the all round player debate, but the striker debate is debatable. Maybe because in 2026 his competition for English strikers are your Watkins, Calvert-Lewin's, Toney's, Welbecks etc, it skewers people's thinking as most people have recency biasm or are not old enough to remember those players.

I even saw a recent Harry Maguire interview with Ian Wright and even Maguire said Wright was before his time. And Kane was not more lethal than Wright who broke the Arsenal all time goal scoring record between the age of 28-35.

Kind Regards

Verbose

What a player. Scores two against Croatia in the opening WC game and still has time to track back and help his defenders, while also spraying the ball around the pitch for others to run on to!

Verbose you say, I'll keep it short then

Went missing the Champions League final
Went missing in the World Cup Semi final against Croatia
Went missing in the World Cup Quarter final against France
Went missing in the Euro 2020 final against Italy
Went missing in the Euro 2024 final against Spain

But it's OK people, he turned up against the mighty Stuttgart in the German Cup final

Kind Regards

The ball went missing against France, still hasn't come down

He's mounting a late charge

It is hard to argue otherwise now.

Yes. I had my doubts but the numbers don't lie.

Two great goals, kept running for 90 minutes, saved at least one certain goal as a last man defender. Don't see Erling Haaland heading balls off the goal line very often. The top strikers do get spoonfed chances by team mates as the first England goal was but the second was 100% Harry's own. Bellingham played well but managed to find the keeper every time he had a good chance. Rashford was as bad as I feared he would be.

'lads' it's Congo'

Depends how much value you put on just scoring goals. If nobody around him is doing it on a regular basis then he is bound to stand out. Taking penalties helps a bit. If he wasn't scoring goals then would you even notice him? Yes, the second goal was a spectacular finish, but that's not his trademark goal is it? Many will rely on him being set up by the team. No chances, likely no goals. Personally, I prefer a striker who is capable of doing much of the work himself. If you were looking for someone to tick all boxes you would also expect more skill and pace.

The national labels are becoming increasingly irrelevant when you learn about the players. For a start, any teenager showing real ability is quickly snapped up by a top team in one of the major leagues. From then on they get the same diet, training regime and medical team as players from England, France, Spain etc. So if a nation can lay claim to 20 such players they have a similar chance in the World Cup to England or Spain. Have any of the DR Congo team ever been there? The keeper Mpasi was born in France, scooped up by the PSG youth team so no different from Mbappe who didn't move to PSG until he was 18. No wonder the players embrace opponents after a game like long lost brothers. They almost are!

Kane has had to develop leadership skills and defensive ability which few strikers do. The acid test would be an international auction of the best 20 players with no strings attached but that won't happen.

2nd goal yesterday was an incredible strike

A top striker no doubt, but his numbers are very healthily boosted by penalties , nearly a quarter of his goals all told ( i believe its 108 from the spot now).

The likes of Greaves and Lineker scored far fewer pens in their career (36 and 17 respectively).

In the World Cup finals he has scored 4 against Panama, 2 against each of Tunisia Croatia and Congo, as well as one each against Senegal, Colombia and France (that was a pen).

Easily England's best ever striker.

Shearer & Rooney were great but Harry is the greatest!

At around 75 minutes yesterday I was thinking about this thread and whether to bring it up and mock the idea he could be the greatest. He was absolute garbage for most of the game, and is doing that Ronaldo-of-five-years-ago thing of barely running, and just looking for the moments. Helps that we have no replacement anywhere near the right level of course.


And then he scores a worldie!


Footy eh!

Went missing again in a big game when it matters.

It's ok though the Bundesliga is starting soon, back to looking like a beast.

kane england career should be over now , i pointed out shouldnt really been at this world cup, has never produced club or country in the biggies, NEVER  , has a great goalscoring record for all teams , but rarely produced against even the best club sides tbh,  so Bobby charlton is still the best striker/midfielder , actually best england player ever

Rooney went missing in every game in every World Cup he played in. He scored 1 goal in 3 World cups (11 Games) 1 goal in a 2-1 defeat versus Uruguay. "It's only Congo" You say? It was only Algeria, USA, Slovenia, Ecuador. It's very simple, England would have reached the final if Tuchel had selected Bowen & Maguire in the England squad. But as expected, Mes & Elis will blame Kane

I don't blame Kane for England being knocked out, he was not the main problem, but once again he went missing in a big game.

Def the best, got no sort of service last 2 games, will say age catches up with all of us, manager should have took him off v corn beefs put Watkins and Rashford on, then we would be playing Spain Sunday, manager got it right previous 2 games but horribly wrong Weds, him and only him reason we out, as for getting rid, who to replace him with?

Kane should have been pulled off in both games, only the armband saved him.
Didn't do jack in either of them.

As for Maguire that's funny, up against Messi, what could possibly go wrong ?.

Bellingham did nothing in the Argentina game but you'll still keeping him and Kane on the pitch. Should have kept Gordon on too. You'd bring Maguire on for his experience at marshalling the back line instead of it being in Pickford's lap. John Stones had run his race at about 60 minute mark so it would have been an easy call to make. And Bowen coming on and providing an outlet with his pace would have been an easy call too seeing as he's also not afraid to track back!
Poor squad selection and negative tactics cost England a place in the final

Like you'd be more informed than the England coach

Kane, sadly has a habit of not performing deep into tournaments.. Keeps happening.

Talks about mental pressure... Needs a better psych coach, imo.

Deffo up there with the best on talent, but
hasn't got the bottle.

Whipping if you’re answer is Harry Maguire I think you are recognising England are not a WC winning squad, I think they done well, they will be regrets from players individually and the management team but bottom line is, not good enough but fair try got through 2 difficult games Mexico, Norway but Messi magic put them out, no shame there.

Yet another milestone for England's best ever striker.

Fastest ever to 100 goals in Germany's top league.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/live/cx305jmen55rt

Just a shame the other 17 teams are Championship standard

He wouldn’t have landed the milestone if they weren’t!

Sep 19, 2026 -- 11:44AM, mesmerised wrote:

Just a shame the other 17 teams are Championship standard

He can only play against what he's up against.

I seem to remember Bayer Leverkausen went invincible a couple of years ago.

best ever striker, never turns up to the top events

Maguire has been Man Utd's best defender again. But he's not in the England squad for the upcoming internationals and I believe he deserves to be. Ashbourne obviously thinks a coach/manager always make the right calls. As for Kane, I guess knock out games in World cups and Champions League aren't considered big games anymore?

Gary Lineker for me.