Harry Kane breaks long-standing Gary Lineker record for England, as Three Lions rampage Panama

Harry Kane celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the 2026 World Cup Group L football match between Panama and England. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)
Harry Kane has broken a long-standing Gary Lineker record for England, against Panama. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Harry Kane has broken a long-standing Gary Lineker record for England at the 2026 World Cup against Panama.

The Englishman scored his third goal of the tournament, and his 11th World Cup goal ever, to achieve the feat.

Lineker previously held the record for most goals scored by an individual at the World Cup for England, with 10 strikes across his career.

Harry Kane breaks long-standing Gary Lineker record for England, as Three Lions rampage Panama

Harry Kane celebrates after scoring England's fifth goal against Panama at the 2018 World Cup.

Harry Kane has made World Cup history for England. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Harry Kane began his 2026 World Cup campaign with a first-half brace vs Croatia, scoring a penalty (at the second time of asking) then a free header.

The Bayern Munich striker then went 150 minutes without bagging at the tournament, before ending the mini-drought vs Panama.

Harry Kane of England celebrates scoring a goal to make the score 1-0 during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group L match between England and Croatia at Dallas Stadium.

Kane has three goals already this tournament. (Image credit: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images)

Jude Bellingham broke the deadlock for the Three Lions, before Kane added to the score-line with a 67th-minute header.

The former Tottenham Hotspur man previously won the Golden Boot at the 2018 edition, with six goals: a hat-trick vs Panama, a brace vs Tunisia, and a penalty vs Colombia.

Kane also scored two goals at the 2022 tournament, one in a 3-0 win against Senegal, and a penalty vs France in a 2-1 defeat.

Lineker scored four goals in 1990, and six goals in 1986, to complete his haul of 10 World Cup strikes for the Three Lions.

Harry Kane has also surged slightly further up the 2026 Golden Boot rankings, now just two goals off of Lionel Messi, who has five.

Gary Lineker mid-kick of a ball.

Gary Lineker won the World Cup Golden Boot in 1986. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Shockingly, the Argentine has never won the tournament's Golden Boot, falling by one goal in 2022 to winner Kylian Mbappe.

Lineker won the award at the 1986 tournament, ahead of Diego Maradona who scored five.

Kane is the joint eighth highest goalscorer in World Cup history, tied with Hungary's Sandor Kocsis and Germany's Jurgen Klinsmann.

Kedar Bayley
Freelance Writer

Kedar Bayley is a trained journalist specialising in culture reporting. As a fan of Liverpool FC, he writes on the Reds often. Knowledgable about all things sports, cinema and television, you can find his words in Screen International, FourFourTwo, Manchester Evening News and more.

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