Harry Kane: England captain’s wait for major silverware is finally over

Harry Kane has finally ended his long wait for a first career trophy after Bayern Munich secured the Bundesliga title.

Bayern were crowned German champions for a record-extending 34th time on Sunday after closest rivals Bayer Leverkusen were held 2-2 at Freiburg.

Kane’s maiden major team honour comes in his 15th season as a professional and his second with Bayern, who he joined from Tottenham in 2023 for £86.4million plus add-ons.

The star striker twice went close to winning silverware when leading England to the Euro 2020 and Euro 2024 finals, only for Gareth Southgate’s side to lose out to Italy and Spain respectively.

Bayern’s latest success and what it meant to Kane was a moment the 31-year-old thought might never come.

He was arguably the best player in modern times never to have won any team silverware, having continually fallen short with Spurs and in his first campaign in Germany.

For all of his own individual records, of which there are many, his lack of trophies has always been a stick used to beat him with.

But that criticism can now be consigned to history.

Few have worked harder for it than the Walthamstow-born forward, who doubted himself at the start of his career when he had unsuccessful loan spells in the Football League with Millwall, Norwich and Leicester.

But once he got into the first team at Tottenham, he quickly blossomed into one of the top strikers in Europe, deadly in front of goal and brilliant with the ball at his feet – a scorer of great goals, as well as a great goal-scorer.

He was the main man at Tottenham when they were the nearly club in the late 2010s, finishing runners-up in the Premier League, Champions League and League Cup.

While the north London club faltered, Kane remained prolific, winning three Premier League Golden Boots, and breaking Spurs’ all-time goal-scoring record in 2023 when he overtook Jimmy Greaves’ mark of 266.

But he dreamed of winning team silverware and, when a move to Bayern Munich came up in August 2023, he took the plunge and headed to the Bundesliga.

Despite a stunning return of 36 league goals in 32 games in his maiden season, the German giants missed out on a trophy for the first time in 11 years.

It was an all-too-familiar tale for Kane, having twice gone so close to international glory with England.

The tone was set for a magnificent England career when he scored 30 seconds into his debut against Lithuania in 2015.

He captained his country for the first time in 2017 and has grown into an impressive leader.

The following year he became a global star, winning the Golden Boot at the 2018 World Cup with six goals as England made it to the semi-finals for the first time since 1990.

There was heartache in 2021 as a penalty shootout defeat to Italy denied England Euro 2020 success at Wembley and then Kane’s missed penalty against France in the World Cup quarter-finals proved costly.

But he bounced back, breaking Wayne Rooney’s record for England goals in 2023.

More England heartache followed for Kane when Southgate’s team lost 2-1 to Spain in the Euro 2024 final in Germany.

He said in the build-up to that final that he would swap all of his individual accolades for team silverware and, finally, he now has both.