England captain Harry Kane took four games and 269 minutes to register a single shot on target at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, making Wednesday’s performance against Croatia all the more remarkable.
Kane scored twice in England’s 4-2 victory over Croatia, getting off the mark inside 12 minutes before adding a second to set the tone for England’s tournament.
Alan Shearer, speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan, knows better than most what it means to start a World Cup in that kind of form, having scored for England against Tunisia in their opening game at France 1998.
“Honestly, it was a massive relief – not only for the team to get the win, but to get on the scoresheet myself, as captain and our main goalscorer, when everyone was looking at me to deliver,” Shearer said.
Shearer believes Kane will have been watching the early stages of the tournament with real urgency, seeing the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi all hit the ground running with multiple goals apiece.
The England skipper also showed genuine mental fortitude during the match, retaking a saved penalty and placing the second attempt in exactly the same spot, a moment Shearer described as taking real psychological strength to execute.
Shearer drew a comparison to his own experience against Argentina in 1998, when he converted two penalties in the same game, once in normal time and once in the shootout, beating Carlos Roa on both occasions.
Kane’s second goal, a header assisted by Declan Rice, further underlined his sharpness, with Shearer noting that he read the flight of the ball quickly and executed his finish perfectly despite Croatia’s poor defending.
Much of Kane’s confidence stems from a stunning club season with Bayern Munich, during which he scored 61 goals, a figure Shearer described as “just ridiculous,” with Kane himself acknowledging he had scored around 20 more goals than in any previous campaign.
Shearer made his professional debut for Southampton in 1988, noting that scoring 20 goals in a season was considered a major success back then, putting Kane’s numbers in striking perspective.
Under Thomas Tuchel, who managed Kane previously at Bayern Munich, England are now using their striker in a far more effective system, with Noni Madueke, Jude Bellingham and Anthony Gordon providing forward runs to complement Kane’s deeper involvement.
Shearer also highlighted that at Euro 2024, whenever Kane dropped into midfield to receive the ball, there was nobody making runs ahead of him, leaving England with limited attacking options and reducing his overall effectiveness.
With Croatia behind them and Ghana and Panama to come in Group L, Shearer suggested Kane’s eyes will be lighting up at the prospect of extending his tally further in the coming matches.
Kane now sits alongside Mbappe and Colombia’s James Rodriguez as one of just three players at this tournament wearing the special sleeve patch denoting a previous World Cup Golden Boot winner, and Shearer has no doubt that Kane will be desperate to become the first player ever to win it twice.
