Harry Kane matches England caps record as brace seals Nations League win

Harry Kane equalled Peter Shilton’s England appearance record and scored twice as England beat the Czech Republic 3-0 in their UEFA Nations League meeting at Wembley.

The result continued England’s strong start under Thomas Tuchel, following their victory against the Czech Republic in Prague and a commanding 7-0 success against Croatia. Kane was central to another assured display, reaching 125 caps and moving closer to a landmark international scoring record.

England took the lead after 27 minutes, with Kane’s cross eventually ending up in the Czech Republic net via former West Ham United defender Vladimir Coufal.

Kane added a second five minutes before the interval. Morgan Rogers delivered a superb first-time ball into the area, allowing the England captain to finish from close range and give the hosts a comfortable half-time advantage.

The striker completed his second brace for England in the 57th minute. Lewis Hall sent over a corner and Kane rose at the far post to head the ball into the net.

Those two goals took Kane’s England total to 91. He is now on course to become the first player to score 100 goals for the national team.

His appearance also brought him level with Shilton’s record of 125 England caps. Kane was replaced by Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the closing stages, receiving a standing ovation from the Wembley crowd as he made his way off the pitch.

It was another notable milestone in a career which has already seen Kane become England’s leading goalscorer, with his latest goals helping to secure another convincing Nations League victory.

Tuchel said England had to look forward after being asked about their 2022 World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina.

“I think it’s necessary to move on. I think I can only repeat that we didn’t go out on the group stage, sometimes it feels like that, but we didn’t,” he said after the win over the Czech Republic.

“There was a bit of criticism and scepticism around, (but) I said we don’t start new, I believe we don’t have to start completely new because we can build on what we built together and we played some high-level competitive football in the World Cup.

“Now we move to the next step and it’s always important to take the next step. But the commitment of the players and the attitude of the players from the first day in camp was on a very high level and I’m happy that we can prove it in all four matches.”