Southgate so pleased to have Golden Boot contender Kane

Gareth Southgate would not swap Harry Kane for any other goalscorer at the World Cup after the England captain’s hat-trick secured a record-breaking win and progress to the knockout phase.

Just the third Englishman to achieve such a feat at the World Cup, it moved Kane on to five goals and to the top of the Golden Boot standings.

Asked about Kane’s current level in a question mentioning Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, England manager Southgate said: “Well, clearly the stage to do that is this one. He’s started brilliantly.

“You can dismiss penalties as being easy, but the length of time he had to wait before taking that (first one) and the number of distractions, to then keep focused, start again and refocus tells you a bit about the mental toughness that he’s got.

“Look, he’s there, he’s up at the top. We wouldn’t swap him for anyone in the tournament in terms of number nines.

“You know that when he gets opportunities he’s going to bury them. You sit there very confident in his ability to take chances.

“But as important in that is the way he sacrifices himself for the team in the way he presses, holds the ball up, contributes to the overall game.

“He’s not just a player that stands up front and waits for chances and that’s important within the ethic of the team we’re trying to create.”

Kane went off soon after wrapping up his hat-trick – England’s only goal of a second half that was never likely to get near the five struck before the break.

“It’s strange because I enjoyed the win against Tunisia more because of the tension in it and the fact that you get over the line when you’re really under pressure,” Southgate said.

“It was very, very special.

“Just before half-time the game was done today, so it was a very, very strange feeling watching the second half, just trying to encourage the players to keep professional in the way that they played and be a top team by being ruthless.

“Very strange because I think we probably at times played better the other night than we have done today, but today we were really ruthless in front of goal.”

England next face Belgium, who would reportedly rather finish as Group G runners-up.

“We would want to keep momentum and keep progressing as a team,” Southgate added.

“I’ve heard talk of, ‘Is it better to finish first or second?’ I am not sure how we’re going to work all of that out really, so let’s just go and enjoy the game again.

“It’s nice that it’s a game where we’re not up to our neck in pressure.”