Gary Lineker makes admission following England's World Cup win against Croatia

Gary Lineker has admitted that he thinks Harry Kane is "the greatest English striker we've ever had" after England's captain equalled his record of 10 goals at World Cups.

Kane scored twice in the Three Lions' 4-2 win over Croatia as England got off to a flying start.

Lineker racked up 10 goals at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and the 1990 World Cup in Italy, while Kane is featuring in his third tournament.

"Welcome to the double-figures club. It's great. I mean, it may have taken him a World Cup more," Lineker joked on The Rest is Football podcast.

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He continued: "In all seriousness, Harry Kane is, I think, the greatest English striker we've ever had. I genuinely think that now.

"His all-round game is, for me, what separates him from all the others."

Kane now has 81 goals in 115 games for England, leading the list as the Three Lions' record goalscorer.

His two goals last night came from set pieces, with his first from the spot after retaking a penalty following an encroachment into the penalty area by Croatia's Josko Gvardiol and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic stepping off his line.

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Lineker continued: "I'm absolutely delighted that Kane equalled my record.

"His all-round game is, for me, what separates him from all the others."

Lineker's co-host and former England captain Alan Shearer said: "Harry Kane has seen Messi, Mbappe and Haaland all come on straight away and get the goals."

Addressing Lineker, Shearer added: "It's only a matter of time before he breaks your record."

Kane was full of praise for his manager, Thomas Tuchel, yesterday, who motivated the Three Lions after a "complicated" first half.

He said: "The manager gave a great speech to be honest. Especially after the way we conceded the second goal, just before half-time.

"He told us to let the shackles off, calm down, what are we scared of, let's just go. The way we conceded that second goal is not the way we want to be, dropping deep, waiting and conceding.

"He said: 'What's the worst that can happen? We lose a game, first group game, we get on with it and move on. Let's just go and how the world who we can be'.

Kane continued: "I think we did exactly that in the second half.

"The performance, with and without the ball, was at the highest level. We could have scored three goals in that 20-minute spell (after half-time).

"Physically, the guys that came on in the final 20 minutes kept the level really high and in the end we had too much for a really great team who will go far in the tournaments themselves."

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