Kane matches childhood hero Beckham’s record

England captain Harry Kane has spoken about his pride at reaching the same number of international caps of his childhood hero, Sir David Beckham, after making his 115th appearance in Wednesday's FIFA World Cup 2026 win over Croatia.

The milestone marks another landmark in Kane’s journey from grassroots football at Ridgeway Rovers to captaining England on the international stage.

Like Beckham before him, Kane grew up in Chingford, attended Chingford Foundation School and began his football career with Ridgeway Rovers.

“David Beckham had also played for Ridgeway Rovers growing up and with Beckham being Beckham, he was my idol,” said Kane.

“I knew he'd played for the same team as me, went to the same school and grew up in the area. Looking back, having two England captains come from Ridgeway Rovers and Chingford Foundation School is an amazing achievement.”

For Kane, Beckham’s success made an England career feel attainable as he honed his skills while growing up on the outskirts of London.

“Seeing Beckham go on to achieve what he did made it seem a little bit more real,” he explained. “Without that, it might've felt out of reach. It gave me that extra belief that I could go on and achieve the same.

“I’m extremely proud to be amongst those names. David Beckham was my idol growing up. He was England captain, from the same area in Chingford and we went to the same school. To have the same number of caps as him is pretty mind-blowing.”

Kane also revealed Beckham sent him a voice note before and after the match as the Three Lions got their campaign off to a winning start in Dallas.

“David sent me a nice voice note and then after the game congratulating me on getting to 115. He said how hard it is to be that consistent and reach that many caps, so it was great to receive that message.”

The connection between the two England captains extends beyond that too, as Kane recalled a school-age photograph taken at the opening of the Beckham Academy featuring both himself and his now wife Katie.

“We haven’t spoken about the picture but it has come up on Instagram before and he reposted it,” said Kane.

“The girl standing next to him is actually my wife, because we went to the same school. It’s a really nice picture to have at home and brings back great memories.”

Now level with Beckham on 115 appearances, Kane joins one of England’s most exclusive groups. While Beckham’s legacy was built across three World Cups and years as captain, Kane has established his own through goals, leadership and consistency.

With another England fixture on the horizon against Ghana on Tuesday, Kane now has the opportunity to move beyond Beckham’s total and further cement his place in the national team’s history.

Noni Madueke and Ivan Toney are expecting a 'physical' challenge when England take on Ghana in their second group stage game at the World Cup.

The Three Lions began their bid to add a second star to the shirt with a 4-2 win over Croatia in Dallas courtesy of a Kane brace and goals from Jude Bellingham and Marcus Rashford.

Thomas Tuchel’s side now travel to Boston to take on Ghana on Tuesday as they look to seal a spot in the knockout stage but Madueke and Toney are taking nothing for granted as England attempt to build on a promising opening performance.

Asked what England can expect against Ghana, Madueke said: "We focus on us. We focus on our plan and we know that if we execute that properly then we'll win the game.

"They're a strong side. All the teams who have qualified for the World Cup deserve credit and it'll be a good game but like I said, we're completely focused on ourselves.

"We know that if we execute then we're most likely to win the game."

Elaborating on the challenge the African outfit are likely to pose, Madueke and Toney both pinpointed the physicality of Carlos Queiroz's side ahead of the clash at Boston Stadium.

"It's going to be a physical game," Madueke continued. "They’ve got some good players, up-front as well. I feel like those are their strengths."

Toney added: "It’s going to be physical. They have quality - everyone has quality in this tournament. Like we said before, we focus on ourselves and I feel like it'll be more than enough."

Madueke, who started the win against Croatia, also opened up on how he managed to stay calm during his first ever World Cup appearance.

"First of all you thank God, it’s a blessing,” the Arsenal winger admitted.

"And then I think it's important not to deep it too much, you just go out and do your stuff, do your bits that got you here in the first place. Treat it like another game.

"We’ve played loads of big games, a lot of games of magnitude in my career so I treated it like one of those games and went out and tried to do my stuff, help my team."