Kane: 'It was my best season ever'

What does it feel like to win the England men’s top goalscorer award with M&S Food? It’s seven successive seasons now…

"Yeah, you know what? I'm always proud of these achievements. It's a showcase of consistency, and I think that's a good part of who I want to be and who I am. I'm never someone who likes to rest on what they’ve done, it's always about the next few years, the next achievement. So to have it seven times in a row now for a big nation like England, and how good our team is, it's something I'm proud of as always. Thank you to my teammates and coaches, for helping to make it happen as well."

Twelve goals for England across the season equals your best tally. You also scored 12 in the 2021-22 season. What made this such a successful season for you?

“I think obviously it started with World Cup qualifying, we had important games and whenever you're in a qualification campaign, there's always high pressure and maybe more pressure than what is seen from the outside. England is just expected to win, obviously, but you still have to perform and help the team. Whenever you're in a major tournament year, especially World Cups, it’s a big season and you want to try and help your team achieve the goal of winning. As we know, it didn't quite happen for us, but there were a lot of positives to take from that and for me personally to score six goals at the World Cup was really special. Some memories from that tournament will last a lifetime for me personally and as always, you want to be there as a striker, you want to help the team to keep scoring, and it’s been another good year for that."

You scored 73 goals for club and country, including scoring in two finals in Germany. Where does last season rank in your career?

"Yeah, I think it was my best season ever. It was a combination of my best season individually, but also adding three trophies onto that. The hat-trick in the German Cup Final was a big thing for me; my first cup final win, and to be the one to help the team get it over the line was special. Throughout the year there's been a lot of special goals, a lot of big goals and big moments so from a personal point of view it’s a season I'll never forget but one that motivates me more."

What was your favourite England goal this season?

“I think it has to be the second goal against DR Congo. Just the importance of it as well, it was a really important goal for us. Knockout football in the World Cup is as tough as it gets and that goal from a pressure point of view, but also from a technical point of view; it was one of my best finishes in an England shirt. To turn and swivel and hit it with the power I did in that moment, in the last ten minutes of the game, it was one of my best goals without a doubt. It’s between that and the Mexico penalty as well, because of the atmosphere, the hostile environment and the importance of the goal. Penalties are high, high pressure, so to execute that was really special for me, but I think the Congo one just makes it."

England achieved their best-ever finish on foreign soil at the World Cup. How do you reflect on the tournament, having also come away with a medal?

 “A lot of great things and a lot of positive things. It was our best finish and we had to deal with the travel, the heat and the altitude and there were a lot of steps we had to overcome. I think it's hard when you're in it, when you're the athlete, when you're the player, the coach, because you want to win. Ultimately when you don't win, you're always disappointed and you always feel like you've not achieved what you wanted. But when you reflect on it and you take a step back, there's a lot of things to be proud of and a lot of positives to take. Always with this team, it's about growing and getting better, and I think this is going to help us get better. Now it's about the next one, it's about trying to go one further, trying to win it, and that's the aim now. We've had a lot of experience in these moments and it hasn't quite happened for us, but we can improve and take things on. We’re in a good position for the next one."

You broke a number of records this season. Firstly, you became England’s leading goalscorer at the World Cup, overtaking Gary Lineker. How did that feel, and did you speak to him about it?

“Yes, Gary Lineker sent me some messages of congratulations and it’s a nice record to have, to be the leading World Cup goalscorer for England. It’s something to be extremely proud of because Gary was one of our greatest strikers so whenever you're mentioning these type of names, it obviously means you’re in great company."

You also became England’s most-capped outfield player and the player with the most matches as captain. What do those achievements mean to you?

"When you're younger, you're just dreaming of playing once for England so to now be the most capped outfield player is really hard to process while I’m still playing. To think I’m above Wayne [Rooney], who was someone that I looked up to and watched growing up, it’s something that I’ll look back on when I’m finished and think ‘wow, look what I've done.’ But ultimately, right now, can I break even more records? With the captaincy record, it’s the highest honour. I want to make sure that I'm improving in this every year, getting better as a captain which I feel like I have, especially in these last few years. These are achievements that I wasn’t thinking about when I was younger, but when you do achieve them, you have to really take a moment to appreciate it."