'I don't know how he scored' - Harry Kane's unique talent explained by ex-Man Utd star as England are told winning World Cup without Bayern Munich striker would be 'very difficult'

He will, fitness permitting, head into that tournament as captain of the Three Lions. Kane is a talismanic presence for his country, with his historic haul of goals being raised to 78 through 112 games. He is also just 14 caps short of beating Peter Shilton’s all-time appearance record.

That bar is expected to be raised in the not too distant future, with many suggesting that Kane should now be considered England’s GOAT. If he were to capture a major trophy with the Three Lions - bringing 60 years of pain to a close - then it would be difficult to argue against that standing being enjoyed.

England will be leaning heavily on their skipper next summer - after seeing him hit eight goals in a faultless qualification campaign - with it seemingly imperative that he is fit and firing when another bid for global glory begins.

Quizzed on whether England could win the World Cup without Kane, ex-Manchester United and Three Lions defender Brown - speaking in association with BetWright casino - told GOAL: “It would be very difficult. Harry Kane has been so good because he knows where to be. It’s the same as [Cristiano] Ronaldo in the sense that ‘we’re not as young now, but’.

“I marked Harry Kane a few times, it was at Sunderland. Honestly, for the majority of the game you think you are absolutely fine. It sounds really weird but you can ask many people: Who would you rather play against, a really fast young guy who is trying to run everywhere, into corners and doing 800 stepovers, or play against Harry Kane? The weird thing is, you might think Harry Kane. But the problem is that Harry Kane will leave with a goal on that day. How? I don’t know, but he will because he’s clever and he knows what to do and where to be. Is he running all over the place? No, I don’t think he has ever done that. When he gets in the box and you take your eye off him for a second, he’s in the right spot and he will score. Sometimes you go home thinking ‘I don’t know how he scored today’. It’s hard to explain. There are players that can do that. You’re like ‘I’m not that tired, I’ve not been running everywhere, he’s done his job when needed, held it up, turned, and all of a sudden he has scored!’

“He’s a player that you definitely need in that squad, 100 per cent. With that experience now, doing it in Germany as well. I’m not saying we won’t score without him, but he 100 per cent starts for me and is captain.”

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Another former England star, Kane’s ex-Tottenham team-mate Fraizer Campbell, recently told GOAL when the same question was put to him: “It’s a difficult one. You have got [Ollie] Watkins, who is a quality player but he’s not in the same bracket as Harry Kane yet. It would be an issue.

“We have got a lot of good, technical 10s who could potentially play higher up the pitch like a false nine. [Marcus] Rashford has played No.9 before and he’s doing well this season. It would be a big miss for us, but we would have to cope somehow. Maybe come the start of next year we just wrap him in cotton wool and tell him not to play too much for Bayern!”

That may be the best solution, with Kane having surged beyond 100 goals for Bayern this season - on the back of breaking his trophy duck in Germany last term when becoming a Bundesliga title winner.

He is now chasing down more medals with club and country and England will discover their 2026 World Cup group stage opponents when the draw takes place on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.