VIDEO: Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo & David Beckham all namedropped by Harry Kane as Bayern Munich & England superstar names best player he's played against, his boyhood idol & more

Kane has faced some of the finest talent in world football over the course of his career, with outings for club and country pitching him into direct competition with the very best in the business. He has represented Tottenham and Bayern Munich with distinction on a domestic stage, while becoming captain of England at international level.

The prolific 32-year-old has graced the Premier League, Bundesliga, Champions League, European Championship and World Cup. Having rubbed shoulders with the great and good, he is well placed to pass judgement on who stands out from the crowd.

Indeed, when asked to pick the best player he's ever played against, Kane couldn't separate Messi and Ronaldo, even when pushed to pick between the two GOATs.

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Kane was asked by GOAL to name the players that he holds in the highest regard, with several categories being worked through. Unsurprisingly, the Three Lions skipper lauded a couple of GOATs, an iconic fellow countryman and a current club colleague at the Allianz Arena.

After giving his answer for the best player that he has come up against, Kane went on to name another England captain, Manchester United legend David Beckham, as the retired player that he would most like to have played with and his favourite player growing up.

Former Premier League opponents Kevin De Bruyne and N’Golo Kante, who once lined up in title-winning squads at Manchester City and Chelsea respectively, were selected as the best passer of a ball that Kane has seen and the toughest midfield enforcer. And in the England captain's eyes, exciting Germany international Jamal Musiala, who plays alongside Kane at Bayern, is considered to be the hottest prospect on the planet.

Kane is from the same area of east London as ex-Three Lions talisman Beckham. He has previously told England's official website of being able to follow in illustrious footsteps: “David Beckham had also played for Ridgeway Rovers growing up and with Beckham being Beckham, growing up he was my idol, and it was the same for a lot of young kids in that area. I knew he had played for the same team as me, went to the same local secondary school in Chingford Foundation School, and grew up in the area, so whilst Beckham was obviously a huge figure across the world, for those of us in Chingford, where he came from, that was all people used to speak about. It was nice to have that link and looking back, having two England captains from Ridgeway Rovers and Chingford Foundation School is an amazing achievement.

“Seeing Beckham go on to achieve what he did made it seem a little bit more real. If I didn’t have that you might have felt it was out of reach or an impossible task, with so many people and potential footballers out there, but it gave me that little bit of extra belief that I could go on and achieve the same.”

Kane has become an inspiration and icon in his own right, with an example being set to stars of tomorrow. He will do all he can to help hot prospects head down a path to greatness, with Musiala already making positive progress there.

Kane has said of his 22-year-old team-mate in Munich: “He’s a great guy, first and foremost, still extremely young, but willing to learn and work hard. He has a fun side to him that everyone loves. On the pitch he’s one of the best I’ve played with. He has some of the best individual attributes I’ve ever seen. The way he moves and dribbles, for his size, it’s truly unique. I think he can be a gamechanger in certain situations.”

Musiala is currently sidelined with the broken leg and ankle that he suffered at the 2025 Club World Cup. Bayern have been faring admirably without him, though, seeing Kane find the target on 19 occasions through 11 games this season and become a centurion on the total goals front, while England have booked their place at next summer’s World Cup and are daring to dream once more of bringing 60 years of pain in men’s international football to a close.