Harry Kane’s 126th cap is now just days away. If the England captain plays against Croatia at Wembley on Thursday, he will move past Peter Shilton’s 125 appearances and become the most-capped men’s player in England’s history — and he will do it days after collecting the Ballon d’Or.
UEFA confirmed the landmark in its Matchday 5 preview, noting that the Ballon d’Or winner “will surpass Peter Shilton as England’s all-time men’s appearance leader if he plays against Croatia”. The 33-year-old drew level with the former goalkeeper in October, setting up the opener and scoring twice in the 3-0 Nations League win over Czechia at Wembley. Shilton’s record — 125 caps across a career that ended at the 1990 World Cup — had stood for 36 years.
Kane’s coronation as the game’s best player came on 26 October, when he became the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 to win the Ballon d’Or. He finished the 2025-26 campaign with 73 goals for club and country, and Thomas Tuchel has called him “extraordinary”. His award will be celebrated before the Croatia match at Wembley, turning Thursday night into a double landmark for the captain.
A record 36 years in the making
The Harry Kane 126th cap has been a decade in the making. Kane made his senior England debut in March 2015 and has since become the country’s record goalscorer as well as its appearance record holder in waiting. Shilton, a goalkeeper, needed two decades to reach 125 caps; Kane will pass him in just over eleven years — and he is still scoring.
It is a measure of how far England have come under Tuchel that the record will fall in a game that also matters. England sit second in Group A3 after four games, having won three and lost once, to Spain at Wembley. They need only one more point to secure a place in the Nations League knockout rounds in March, and Thursday is the first of two chances to get it.
Croatia, the Bellinghams and a 7-0 reminder
Croatia arrive at Wembley with a score to settle. England thrashed them 7-0 in Rijeka in October — Croatia’s heaviest defeat — and Kane scored twice in that rout. Slaven Bilic has since begun his second spell in charge of the national team, and he will lean on a centre-back pair he describes as set for a decade: Josko Gvardiol and Luka Vuskovic. Luka Modric, who became the oldest scorer in Nations League history in September, remains the visitors’ heartbeat.
The Harry Kane 126th cap is not the only family story in Tuchel’s squad. Jude Bellingham, whose audacious finish at AEK Athens last week underlined his form, is joined by younger brother Jobe in the England squad for the first time. Jobe, uncapped, earns his first senior call-up alongside Fulham’s Josh King, who has also been named for the first time. King said this week that playing for England is “the dream” and that Kane “sets a really high standards”.
What the Harry Kane 126th cap means for England’s run-in
England will be without Marc Guehi for the double-header after the Manchester City defender withdrew with a hip injury, with Newcastle’s Dan Burn called up in his place. Cole Palmer was also left out of Tuchel’s original squad, the head coach insisting the decision was “not personal”. But the story of the week belongs to the captain.
Kane also leads the race for the Nations League’s top scorer, and a goal on Thursday would be the perfect way to mark the occasion. After Croatia, England travel to Madrid on Sunday to face world champions Spain, who are unbeaten across their last 43 competitive matches. Two games, two landmarks and a quarter-final place on the line — the international break does not get much bigger than this for the man about to stand alone at the top of England’s appearance list.
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Photos: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0, Bryan Berlin) — collage by SportsBuddy
