Harry Kane became England's all-time leading scorer in World Cup history during the team's 2-0 victory over Panama on Saturday, June 27, 2026. Kane’s goal in the 67th minute was his 11th in World Cup play, surpassing Gary Lineker's previous record of 10.
The Bayern Munich striker achieved the milestone with a header from a pass by Jude Bellingham, who scored England's first goal in the match. Lineker had set the previous record between the 1986 and 1990 World Cups.
"It is a proud one for sure," Kane said to the BBC after the match. "I spoke before the tournament about the World Cup being the biggest competition we play as professional footballers, so to get to 11 goals is a proud feeling."
Kane's performance continues a strong start to the current tournament, having scored twice against Croatia in England's opening match. He now trails only Pelé on the list of all-time World Cup goal scorers and is tied with Jürgen Klinsmann and Sándor Kocsis.
"For me, he’s the best England player of all time," Bellingham stated. "He’s the one who showed up more than anyone, more than any England player. It’s quite easy to play with him, in all honesty. He’s at a level at the minute that’s just incredible. You don’t doubt him at all in terms of whether he’s involved, whether he’s not. You know he’s going to make a difference in the game."
Kane has accumulated 82 international goals in 116 matches for England and was the Golden Boot winner at the 2018 World Cup. He is currently in contention for the Golden Boot in this year's tournament, with five goals from Lionel Messi and four from Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Ousmane Dembélé, and Vinícius Júnior.
"Harry is in an amazing state of mind, physically as well," England manager Thomas Tuchel commented. "He is hungry to go all the way in this World Cup, and he’s not satisfied."