The England captain made his World Cup debut on Sunday, scoring his first goal in a 3-0 victory against Senegal, setting up a must-see quarterfinal showdown against France. I was waiting patiently to attempt to score, and happily that was today,” Kane, the World Cup’s leading scorer, said. “I’m feeling fantastic, and I’m hoping this is the start of a strong run for me individually because I know it will benefit the team as well.”
Kane’s dry spell in Qatar came at a good time because Kylian Mbappe, the tournament’s leading scorer with five goals, is set to face England on Saturday at Al Bayt Stadium. With that in mind, England could benefit from having its most prolific scorer at his peak. It’s the toughest test we’ve ever faced,” England coach Gareth Southgate said. “They are world champions, with a great depth of talent, outstanding individual players, and they are extremely difficult to play against and score goals against.
England beats Senegal 3-0
It’s an incredible task. (Mbappe) is a world-class player who has already delivered in crucial situations in this and prior competitions. Kane scored six goals in Russia during the 2018 World Cup, all of which helped England reach the semifinals. But it’s been more difficult this time, with the captain having to wait until first-half stoppage time against Senegal to grab one. When the occasion arose, he never appeared to be absent. He blasted a shot past Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy with his head down to put England up 2-0. The relief flowed out of him as he rushed away in jubilation, arms outstretched wide.
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As a striker, you score goals all the time, and it’s one of the best experiences in football,” Kane said. “The ball simply sat up perfectly, and the connection was flawless.” I had one just before that I should have done better on, so seeing that one go in was nice. Kane’s 52nd goal for England brought him within one goal of Wayne Rooney’s national record. With 11 goals, he also surpassed Gary Lineker as his country’s highest scorer in big tournaments.
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Southgate stated, “You could see the lift that gave him in the second half.” “When you haven’t scored in a while, it’s there in the back of your mind, and you get that boost of confidence when it comes. Nobody I’d rather have bearing down on goal in that moment, a really clinical finish. England’s greatest strength at this year’s World Cup has been its variety of goal threats, and another emerged on Sunday when Jordan Henderson handed his team the lead. Bukayo Saka added his third goal of the tournament to round out the scoring. Marcus Rashford, who scored three goals in Qatar, was not even named to the starting eleven.
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The fact that the goals have been shared is fantastic for us,” Southgate added. “We haven’t been reliant on him” (Kane). It’s great to see another side to our attacking play. Jude Bellingham is also a goal scorer for England, but his game is about so much more. He demonstrated this with a commanding midfield performance against Senegal.
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