Harry Kane will make his 126th England appearance against Croatia at Wembley on Thursday night, overtaking Peter Shilton as the nation's most capped men's player. The 33-year-old striker's journey to the record has been shaped by an obsessive attention to detail, from cutting out sweets to a rigorous recovery regime.
Kane revealed after a Nations League win against Czechia in Prague that he used to reward himself with a bag of Haribo sweets after matches. At the beginning of last season, he decided to cut out the treats and noticed a difference, feeling sharper and able to sprint more and make a greater number of accelerations.
A Career Defined by Sacrifice
Kane finished last season with 61 goals for Bayern Munich and 12 for England. According to data from Gradient Sports, his sprints and accelerations per 90 minutes for Bayern were up significantly on 2024-25. This season, he has 10 goals for Bayern and six for England, with his sprint and acceleration statistics improving again.
The no-sweets choice is the most recent on a dietary journey that started more than 10 years ago when Kane began working with nutritional specialist Dan Sargeant. Sargeant analyses everything from bone broths to the white bits on oranges to tailor individual plans. Kane has not worked directly with Sargeant since his transfer from Tottenham to Bayern in 2023, but he continues to follow his advice.
Recovery and Medical Support
Kane is teetotal during the season, although he had a few drinks celebrating his Ballon d'Or triumph. He uses ice baths and infrared saunas for recovery and places great store in the quality of his sleep. He also works with private doctor Alejandro Elorriaga Claraco, who specialises in electrical neurofunctional acupuncture, having started seeing the Spaniard on a recommendation from golfer Justin Rose after a severe hamstring tear in 2020.
Claraco is based in Canada but travels to see Kane and spends at least a week every month with him, treating him on a table for four to five hours each day with acupuncture needles hooked up to a small battery. Claraco has been fundamental in helping Kane understand his body and how he gets over injuries.
A Record-Breaking International Career
Kane was given the England armband on a full-time basis by Gareth Southgate in 2018. Of his 91 goals for England, 21 have come at major tournaments: 14 at World Cups and seven at European Championships. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (25) and Kylian Mbappé (23) have more combined goals at World Cup tournaments and European Championships among European players. Kane has scored 12 times in the knockout rounds and has 21 assists for England, putting him joint-second on the all-time men's list with Steven Gerrard, behind David Beckham (39).
His penalty record shows 26 successes and five misses, although he scored on the rebound against Denmark in the Euro 2020 semi-final. The miss in the 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in Qatar in 2022 remains a scar, but Kane has said the World Cup semi-final exit against Argentina in the summer was worse.
Kane scored on his England debut against Lithuania in 2015, 79 seconds after coming on as a substitute for Wayne Rooney. Harry Redknapp, the manager who gave Kane his Spurs debut in 2011, recalled a behind-closed-doors game against Birmingham where Kane scored four goals while Arsenal watched Scott Dann, who was on the verge of a move to the club. Arsenal did not sign Dann.
Kane was tagged as a one-season wonder when he broke through in 2014-15, but he has been a wonder in every season since. His former Spurs teammate Son Heung-min, now at Los Angeles FC, celebrated the news of Kane's Ballon d'Or win with a goal celebration-style run at his club's training ground.
