Emotional Harry Kane reflects on ‘crazy few weeks’ after setting another England record

Harry Kane reflected on a “crazy few weeks” after scoring the winning goal against Croatia on his record-breaking 126th appearance for England.

The England captain struck a record-extending 92nd international goal to seal a 2-1 win over Croatia at Wembley on Thursday night, a result that confirmed the team’s progress into the quarter-finals of the Nations League.

The Ballon d’Or winner became England’s most capped men’s player of all-time in that match, having equalled the record held by Peter Shilton last month. Shilton was on hand to make a pre-match presentation to the star striker, along with the Prince of Wales.

England had beaten Slaven Bilic’s side 7-0 in Croatia 40 days earlier, but this was a much more keenly contested affair. Kane was happy England got the job done, setting up a top-of-the-table shootout against Spain on Sunday.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks,” Kane told BBC Radio 5 Live. “Of course it takes a lot out of you emotionally, physically and mentally and all these things.

“I’m very good at staying focused on the job and what needs to be done but it’s a hard balance because you want to take it in. Breaking the record is a massive thing in the history of our game, seeing the tifo there, having my kids with me, and being presented by all the people was beyond dreams.

“Once the whistle goes and you’re on the pitch, you just start focusing on what your job is, pressing and playing the ball, playing assists and goals and that just takes over. It’s always been in me that I’m able to switch, and of course now I can enjoy it with my family on the pitch after this.

“I’ve always said all these big milestones that I’ve had, when you win the game it makes it 10 times better and I’ve been lucky enough to win all of them, especially here at Wembley so it’s nice to do it again.”

Spain defeated Czechia 2-0 in Prague on Thursday as the world champions extended their historic unbeaten streak to 43 matches. That run stretches back to March 2024.

Luis de la Fuente’s side had to come from a goal behind to beat England 3-2 in the reverse fixture in September. Kane is looking forward to the return contest at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium.

“After the first game when we lost here against them, we knew we left a bit out there, we knew we could have done a little bit better,” Kane added on ITV.

“We said to ourselves ‘let’s win every game from now until the next one and see what happens’. It’s the perfect opportunity now to try and prove ourselves.”