'As strong as any before': Kane praises England following perfect qualifying run
Harry Kane feels that the present England squad is "as good as we've ever had" following the captain's completion of their unprecedented World Cup qualification effort with a 2-0 victory over Albania on Sunday.
The Bayern Munich forward Kane scored both goals late in the game in Tirana, securing Thomas Tuchel's squad an impeccable run of eight straight wins in Group K.
The 32 year old has featured for England teams that reached the European Championship final on two occasions and made it to the World Cup last four.
Yet Kane reckons Tuchel has put together the finest lineup in his decade with the national side, calling them among the top contenders for next year's World Cup triumph.
"I think it's as good as we've ever had," Kane said to ITV. "I think when you look at the starting 11, you look at the players coming off the bench, we're going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.
"We have to accept that. We've been like that now for the last few tournaments, and that's part and parcel of it."
England became the inaugural European outfit to complete a World Cup qualifying group of six or more fixtures by taking maximum points while keeping a clean sheet throughout.
They scored 22 goals en route to the finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with Tuchel discovering a successful approach after a slow beginning to his tenure.
Kane, holding the national record with 78 international goals, recognises that much tougher challenges await in the main event.
Still, he anticipates a robust bid from England for their initial major honour since lifting the 1966 World Cup.
"We've been building, we've had a great year together with the new coach, and now we look forward to obviously a big 2026," Kane stated.
"I think we've set the standard now, especially in the last few camps, and we carried it on into this camp.
"It was an important win. You don't want to finish with a loss at the end of the year and then have to wait until March to play again. We can go away and enjoy this now."