In the wake of that contest, Giles Whittell wrote for The Observer: “To win a World Cup takes magic, and Kane doesn’t do magic. He does composure in the six-yard box. He seems to be a lovely guy with a lovely family, but he’s as inspirational as pesto pasta on a Sunday night. He’s the Tim Peake of planet Earth. He makes time stand still, and not in a good way.
“If we’re stuck with Kane, we might as well be stuck in any of the even-numbered years of the past decade, not winning the Euros three times and the World Cup twice with Kane up front. It’s time for just about anyone else.”