Harry Kane targets Cristiano Ronaldo’s international scoring record after England milestone

Harry Kane says he will see how close he can get to Cristiano Ronaldo’s world record after reaching 91 international goals for England on the night he equalled Peter Shilton’s record number of caps.

The England captain scored twice in a 3-0 win against Czech Republic at Wembley on Tuesday, bringing up his 90th and 91st goals for his country. The appearance was his 125th, matching former goalkeeper Shilton’s men’s record.

Kane, 33, has no plans to retire in the immediate future and refused to rule out a pursuit of Ronaldo’s total. The Portugal forward, 41, leads the all-time international scoring charts with 146 goals.

“We’ll see how far we can get,” Kane said. “We’re starting with 50-odd goals. It’s an awful long way away right now but who knows? I’m in great shape.

“I’ve said before that some of the players who I’ve played went into their late 30s and are still at the highest level and even 40s now. It’s season by season with me. As long as I feel like I can help the team… I’ll be around.”

Kane described matching Shilton’s record as “beyond my wildest dreams”, 11 years after making his England debut.

He scored 79 seconds into that first appearance in 2015 and has since become the country’s record goalscorer. England manager Thomas Tuchel praised the striker after his latest landmark, with his side having won three of their four Nations League matches during the international break.

“Amazing, he deserves the stage, he deserves the praise,” Tuchel said.

Kane attributed his progress to a combination of confidence, commitment and a willingness to work harder than others.

“I always had a lot of self-belief,” he said. “I was always willing to maybe do more than others and just push myself…. I combined my talent that I had with a lot of hard work and self-belief and a lot of dedication.”

The former Tottenham player, who left Spurs as their record goalscorer, is also in contention for the Ballon d’Or, which will be held in London later this month.

He said his development was continuing despite his long list of achievements. Kane is coming off what he described as his best season and has started the current campaign as strongly as the previous one.

“I’m in a good place and for me right now, it’s just pushing myself and seeing how far I can get,” he said.

Since moving to Bayern, Kane has set another significant mark by becoming the fastest player to reach 100 Bundesliga goals. He achieved the feat in his 98th league game, breaking a 49-year-old record.

“I’m not going to stop,” he added. “I’m going to keep pushing and see where it takes me. Maybe in 10 years or so, we’ll see where that ceiling is at.”