Euro Qualifiers: Wayne Rooney reacts to Harry Kane breaking his scoring record for England

ENG vs ITA: UEFA Euro 2020 runners-up England were off to a flying start to their campaign in the UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifiers with a spectacular win over the defending champions Italy on Thursday night. While Declan Rice opened the scoring charts in the game within 13 minutes, Kane helped England double their lead with a penalty goal in the 44th minute. England ended up being on the winning side as Mateo Retegui’s goal in the 56th minute was the only success that Italy received.

Courtesy of his stunning penalty goal, Kane surpassed English football legend Wayne Rooney’s tally to become the highest goal scorer for England. Kane now has a total of 54 goals in 81 appearances, while Rooney hit 53 goals in his career while playing 120 games. As Kane breached the record, 37-year-old Rooney took to his official Twitter handle and provided his reaction to Kane’s amazing milestone. 

Congratulating the 29-year-old English captain, Rooney hilariously said he expected his record to be broken but not this soon. “Congratulations to @HKane on becoming @England’s all-time leading goalscorer. I knew it wouldn’t take long but that was quick. Great man, unbelievable goalscorer and an England legend. Congrats Harry,” Rooney tweeted.

Harry Kane responds to Wayne Rooney’s comments

While Rooney’s tweet was quick to go viral among fans, Kane also took a note of it and provided his reply to the same. “Thanks Wazza means a lot!! A really special night,” Kane wrote on Twitter. Meanwhile, as reported by The Associated Press, speaking after the match, the Tottenham Hotspur star recalled the moment when he saw Rooney becoming England’s record scorer by surpassing Bobby Charlton’s tally of 49 games. 

"The World Cup, it was obviously a difficult way to end"

“I remember when I presented him the boot for breaking the record,” Kane said, “and he said, ‘I’ll be giving this back to you one day.’ It’s just a special night.” This comes three months after England’s heartbreaking exit from the FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar. “The World Cup, it was obviously a difficult way to end. It wasn’t nice to finish it that way but we spoke this week about getting back to it. We feel like we are one of the best teams in Europe and we have to keep knocking on the door. We are getting close. To put in a performance like that today, it shows we are ready for the next challenge,” Kane said.