Kane ties Gerd Müller for fifth on all-time World Cup scoring list with 14 goals

If this score holds until the final whistle, England will have to start a great escape—quickly run back to the dressing room!

Even K-Shen only calmed the controversy later in his career; earlier, many criticized him for exploiting weaker opponents, padding his goal tally, and stealing goals.

But 90% of Klose’s goals were tap-ins inside the box—commonly dubbed “free meals.” Kane’s goals are far more spectacular: his second goal against Congo, for instance—but even that, when reduced to raw data, is just one goal. Mbappé’s world-class strike in the 2022 World Cup final. Messi’s two free kicks, his low-driven goal against Mexico and his stunning long-range strike against Australia in 2022, plus his two long-range efforts against Algeria this year. If you bring up penalties, then in terms of open-play goals, Messi, Kane, Mbappé, and Haaland—all vastly more spectacular than Klose.

I feel the goal-scoring charts since 2022 are less credible, as the number of matches has increased and the average quality of opponents has declined—making them less prestigious than earlier goal-scoring charts.