Harry Kane wants to play at Euro 2028, when he will be 34, and is especially motivated with the final being held at Wembley where he and England have “unfinished business” after defeat there at Euro 2020.
The United Kingdom and Ireland were awarded on Tuesday the right to host Euro 2028 with six English stadiums, including Wembley, among the ten venues. Kane, 30, has 86 caps and is likely to have broken Peter Shilton’s England record of 125 should he still be playing in five years’ time.
Asked whether England had “unfinished business” with the European Championship after the heartbreak of the shootout defeat by Italy at Euro 2020, Kane replied: “I think so, we were so close to doing something really magical in the last Euros. We came within a couple of [penalty] kicks of winning the trophy.
“There will be a bit between our teeth, not just in Germany next summer [for Euro 2024] but being at home — playing games at Wembley will bring back memories of the 2021 Euros. To win a tournament would be special but to win it in your home country would be a dream come true.
“I’m aiming to still be around by then. I feel as good as I’ve ever felt. I’d like to think my career will go to my late 30s. The perception in football or sport in general is you hit 30 and people start to think ‘the end’. But the way I’m looking at it is that I almost have the second half of my career [to do]. I’ve had nine years at the highest level and I’m hoping for another eight or nine years at the highest level again. When you look at a lot of the top-level players — [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Messi, Lewandowski, Ibrahimovic — they’ve almost got better as they hit 30. With recovery and sports science, it’s allowed players to play for longer.”
Kane believes that home support will be a huge factor in driving England on. The most recent Euros, the tournament delayed by Covid until 2021, suffered from restricted gates but now England can share the experience properly with their fans.
“We had an amazing experience in 2020 in terms of having six of the games at Wembley so it felt like a home tournament for us,” the Bayern Munich striker said. “Being here and seeing the atmosphere outside the grounds on the way in on the coach gave us a real special feeling. That definitely gave us more energy and more belief. That will do the same in 2028.”
“When we do tournaments here, maybe because we’re English and we’re biased, there is just that special feeling behind it. We should be proud of the country that we have got the bid, it is massive not just for us but for future generations.”
Doubt is rarely a word associated with Harry Kane. He’s a nerveless finisher and selfless creator, already contributing nine goals and five assists in his opening ten games for Bayern Munich. He is England’s captain and record goalscorer and spoke confidently on Tuesday of still representing his country at Euro 2028, when he will be 34.
Yet even such an embodiment of belief as Kane admits to moments of doubt, and not simply early on in his career when he was sent out on loan by Tottenham Hotspur and sat on the bench watching League One and Sky Bet Championship games. He has occasional moments of uncertainty going into major matches now. It’s why he remains so driven for club and country.
It’s one reason why on Tuesday his Harry Kane Foundation partnered with the mental health charity Bounce Forward to build “resilience and emotional wellbeing” in children and the adults around them. Their campaign involves content partly written by Kane and his wife, Katie, “to normalise conversations on mental health, tackle stigma, promote positive habits and provide practical support”.
Kane writes from experience. And on Tuesday he spoke from experience about the moments of self-doubt in his career. “That’s part of the reason why I launched the foundation towards mental health,” he says. “There were times in my career when it was tough, especially when I was on loan away from my family, on my own and not really playing.”
It’s worth recalling what Kane went through, the dark times, the periods on loan and almost a feeling of being unwanted, sitting on the bench for 73 minutes at Spotland before 2,731 people as Leyton Orient laboured to a League One draw in 2011. He’d return to Spurs, get an outing in the Europa League, and then get packed off again to Millwall in the Championship, then return to Spurs, still with doubts around him, come on for four minutes in front of 52,385 at Newcastle United, then head off back to the Championship with Norwich City and Leicester City.
“It was really difficult not being in the team and trying to see a vision of where you want to be and your dreams — playing for Tottenham and England — when I was not even playing for Leicester [City] or Norwich [City]. That’s not an easy thing to cope with.”
He always had a support network: Katie, whom he met at school, his parents, Kim and Pat, and his brother, Charlie. They helped to dispel the moments of doubt. “I’m really close with my wife, with my father, my mum, and my brother and I’ve always been good at talking to them and they’ve always been good at giving me honest feedback and honest opinions, [or] listening when I just need to get stuff off my chest. They were there to encourage and support and to tell me to keep going. Not everybody has that. A support network can make a big difference to anybody’s career.”
Asked whether he still suffers from moments of doubt, Kane replied: “Yes, there’s always moments in high-pressure games, or in the lead-up to big tournaments or big moments. I don’t know if it’s just ‘doubt’ — it’s the anticipation of what’s coming, how’s it going to play out. I’m someone who just tries to do everything I can to prepare in the best way possible and then whether it’s a good or bad outcome, I can be proud and say I’ve done everything, I’ve prepared how I wanted to, I trained how I wanted to, I ate the right food. And then there’s no excuses and there’s no regrets.
“But it’s natural to have a bit of doubt going into [games], especially the higher the pressure — those moments, when the nerves are a little bit higher. I always come back to just being myself and trusting what I’ve done, the processes I’ve taken.”
His £86 million move to Bayern brought more pressure than he had to live with at Spurs. “There’s always a bit of added pressure when you go to a new club, the expectation,” he says. “You’ve been bought for a lot of money and people just expect you to hit the ground running, start scoring and start winning but it’s not always the case.
“There’s a lot of other stuff that goes into a transfer — trying to find houses, living in hotels, not having my family with me. It’s all stuff I’m not used to. So to have started the way I have, I’m really proud of [that].”
He’s learning German slowly: “It’s average, to say the least. I’ve had four, five lessons now, but it’s not easy.” He enjoyed the squad visit to the Oktoberfest where Kane was resplendent in lederhosen and clutched a stein of beer. “For us it’s more like an appearance day [on club duty], more team stuff and a dinner,” he says. “But I can imagine going with a few friends would maybe be a bit more lively. I’m not a big beer drinker. I had a bit and the food was nice.”
Kane said that the routines were fairly similar to English football but noted one big difference: “On away nights in the Champions League, after the game we have a big dinner with the sponsors. I’ve never been a part of that. It’s great when you win but I can imagine it’s pretty brutal [when you lose]. I think that’s why Bayern have won 30-odd games in the group stage because that dinner would be a bit harsh if we lost.”
He knows that being in the Bundesliga will assist his long-term ambitions of playing at Euro 2028. “We have the winter break and one less cup competition so it definitely isn’t as intense as the Premier League schedule is. That will help going into a summer tournament where players are tired after a long season. It will help the longevity of my career, having a few extra weeks’ break.”
Kane then smiles when asked whether he has seen who is top of the Premier League: “I have. Spurs are doing pretty well. It’s great to see. The manager [Ange Postecoglou] is doing great for them with the way they’re playing. The fans are right behind the team and it’s definitely what they needed after the past few years. Hopefully they can continue. I was there for so long and all my friends are still there — even the coaches and staff — so sometimes it’s a little bit strange.
“But being at Bayern Munich now I can keep pushing myself to see how good I can get. It will always be a decision I never regret.” No doubts.
