Kane chasing legends in World Cup all-time scorers list

Harry Kane has the records of Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose in his sights after entering the top five for all-time goals scored at the FIFA World Cup.

The England captain netted from the penalty spot as the Three Lions defeated Mexico 3-2 to reach the quarter-finals, taking his tally for the tournament to six in the process.

The successful spot-kick was Kane’s 14th World Cup goal in total, with the Bayern Munich striker having won the competition’s Golden Boot in 2018 with six goals. He added two more in Qatar four years ago.

Kane is now joint-fifth in the list of all-time World Cup goalscorers after moving level with West Germany legend Gerd Müller following his strike at Mexico City Stadium on Sunday.

The skipper’s prolific form in front of goal in North America had already seen him jump into the top ten and move ahead of a number of big names including Cristiano Ronaldo (11 goals), Pelé (12 goals) and Jürgen Klinsmann (11 goals).

Kane’s decisive penalty against El Tri sent him one clear of France icon Just Fontaine, who incredibly netted all 13 of his World Cup goals in 1958 - the highest amount ever scored at a single tournament.

But with a quarter-final against Norway to look forward to on Saturday evening in Miami, Kane is already closing in on some more legends of the game in the all-time list.

Brazil favourite Ronaldo, who memorably fired the Selecao to glory in 2002 with eight goals, is just one strike above Kane in fourth, having managed 15 in total across his four tournaments.

And former Germany star Miroslav Klose, who was the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer until this summer, sits two goals ahead of Kane in third after scoring 16 times across the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 tournaments.

All-time leading World Cup goalscorers

1 = Lionel Messi - 21 goals
2 = Kylian Mbappe - 20 goals
3 = Miroslav Klose - 16 goals
4 = Ronaldo - 15 goals
5 = Gerd Müller - 14 goals
5 = Harry Kane - 14 goals
7 = Just Fontaine - 13 goals
8 = Pelé = 12 goals
9 = Sándor Kocsis - 11 goals
9 = Jürgen Klinsmann - 11 goals
9 = Cristiano Ronaldo - 11 goals

It’s been all change at the top of the list over the last few weeks, with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe both overtaking Klose’s record as they battle for the Golden Boot with Kane and Norway’s Erling Haaland.

The Argentina talisman and France superstar have each scored eight times during the current tournament, with Mbappe’s overall tally of 20 World Cup goals taking him to outright second in the all-time chart.

That’s just one goal behind 39-year-old Messi, who has netted 21 goals across six tournaments, having first played on football’s biggest stage 20 years ago.

Kane, meanwhile, has already made more England history of his own in North America this summer, having surpassed Gary Lineker’s record of ten World Cup goals scored.

He also set a new record for Three Lions caps earned as captain, having broken the record of 90 jointly held by Bobby Moore and Billy Wright against DR Congo, before playing his 92nd game while wearing the armband against Mexico last weekend.

Kane opened his tournament with two goals in the win over Croatia, before following it up with one against Panama, a match-winning double to defeat DR Congo and a crucial penalty against the co-hosts. He is currently fourth in the Golden Boot rankings behind Messi, Mbappe and Haaland.