Forget the Champions League and Premier League, this is top priority for Kane

Harry Kane insists that the World Cup remains the pinnacle of football, despite club competitions increasing in prominence.

The Premier League has increased in power year-onyear and many view international football as secondary to the glitz and glamour of the Champions League. Former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand also said recently that he cherishes his club successes as more important to him than anything he did for England.

But England captain Kane, pictured, said: “It is hard to look beyond the World Cup – I don’t think any player would tell you any different. It is the one competition that everybody dreams of winning. That is No 1, first and foremost. “Obviously I understand you have got the Champions League and Premier League – so many big competitions – and it is every season. But for me I don’t think it gets much bigger than the World Cup.

“I would love to win everything with Tottenham, but for me personally the World Cup outweighs them all.”

Traditionalists will always see the World Cup as the greatest stage for footballers but there has been less spark around England in recent times. The team have had a series of disappointments in major competitions, not winning a knockout game for 12 years, while English club football has soared globally.

Yet Kane says he has constantly placed the England team above whichever club he supported, even from a young age.

“It was always an England kit for me,” he said, “rather than a club shirt. My mates used to buy Real Madrid or Barcelona shirts when we were on holiday in Spain but I was always England. I was very passionate, my older brother Charlie was very passionate – we were big England fans.

“We had a lot of heartache in the past, but I am very proud to represent my country.”