How Harry Kane's international goalscoring record stacks up against Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo
Harry Kane is fast closing in on a landmark century of goals for England.
The Bayern Munich star is now just nine goals away from becoming the first player in Three Lions history to achieve the feat at senior level after taking his international tally to 91 with a clinical brace against Czechia.
The England skipper has already cemented his name into football history by establishing himself as the men's record goalscorer, some 38 clear of Wayne Rooney in second, whilst no player past or present can match his 14 goals on the World Cup stage.
Not only that, the 33-year-old will become England's outright leading appearance maker should he be selected by Thomas Tuchel to feature in next month's UEFA Nations League clash with Croatia at Wembley.
Kane tied level with Peter Shilton on Tuesday after earning his 125th cap for his country, but will overtake the iconic goalkeeper in just a couple of weeks time, injury and selection permitting, of course.
As the former Tottenham Hotspur man continues to flex his seemingly ever growing footballing muscle, we take a look at how his international goalscoring exploits compare to other star names.
Harry Kane - International goalscoring comparison with Messi & Ronaldo
Harry Kane | Lionel Messi | Cristiano Ronaldo | |
Caps | 125 | 208 | 234 |
Goals | 91 | 126 | 146 |
Strike-rate | 1 in 1.37 | 1 in 1.65 | 1 in 1.6 |
Whilst both Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have netted more times for their respective countries than Kane has for England, the Bayern star actually possesses a vastly superior goal-per-game ratio.
South American icon Messi brought the curtain down on his stellar international career in style in the early hours of Wednesday morning, bagging his 126th strike as well as assisting two more as Argentina saw off Benin in an emotionally-charged tribute match for the Inter Miami man.
It meant that the fabled number 10 retired from international football having scored 126 times in 208 appearances, a goal-per-game ratio of 1 in 1.65.
Messi's long-term adversary Ronaldo, who has also been in the headlines this past week, has actually hit the back of the net 20 occasions more than his former La Liga nemesis, and a staggering 55 than Kane, although that tally has been accumulated across 234 caps.
That's 109 more than Kane has earned to date, although that tally will undoubtedly grow further given he, you'd expect, has a lot longer left on the international stage.
Of the three, it's actually Messi who boasts the lowest strike-rate, with his average of a goal every 1.65 games ever so slightly bettered by the Portuguese who averages an international goal every 1.6 games.
Kane, who is hoping to feature at a ninth major tournament for England in 2028, tops the list in this regard, netting every 1.37 matches.
Hypothetically, should he maintain that strike-rate and notch up the same amount of caps as Ronaldo (234), then he would reach 171 goals for the Three Lions!
