An England captains XI features Kane alongside Shearer, Beckham and Moore

There’s no succession plan for him when he finally slides down the England ladder, but for now Harry Kane and his (lack of proper) goals have helped Gareth Southgate’s men qualify for another tournament he’ll be leading the side into. Could the country’s record goal-scorer go on to become the man with most appearances as captain for the Three Lions? He’s got less than 30 to go now. Here’s an XI of England’s leading skippers.

Goalkeeper: Peter Shilton (15)
Naturally goalkeepers haven’t seen too much of the armband over the years, but it’s no surprise that England’s record appearance holder managed to skipper the team occasionally over the course of his two decade stay on the international scene. Shilton led out the side in his final match for the Three Lions at the ripe old age of 40 in the 1990 World Cup Third Place Play-Off, over eight years after he first captained his country. If you fancy a goalkeeper challenge, try naming the only player to captain England at an older age than Shilton.

Centre-back: Billy Wright (90)
Shilton is one of nine England players to have reached a century of caps, but Billy Wright was the first to achieve that impressive feat. Although Wright only sits second in terms of longest duration as skipper (beaten by an 11-year, pre First World War tenure from Blackburn Rovers defender Bob Crompton), the Wolves legend does hold the joint-record for most matches as captain, with 90 from his 105 international appearances.

Centre-back: Bobby Moore (90)
Wright of course shares that huge honour with World Cup-winning skipper Bobby Moore, although the West Ham hero could’ve gone one better than Wright, after stepping aside to allow Bobby Charlton to lead out the side when the Manchester United legend collected his 100th cap in a 3-1 win over Northern Ireland in 1970. Moore did however break a 75-year-old record in 1963, becoming the Three Lions’ youngest ever captain at the age of 22 in just his 12th international appearance.

Centre-back: John Terry (34)
Chelsea’s captain, leader, legend was England’s captain, leader, legend for a five-year period…apart from that brief time he was stripped of the armband for those pesky extramarital affair accusations. Terry finally lost his skipper status for good after the racial abuse scandal involving Anton Ferdinand, but continued to play for the Three Lions under the reign of new captain Steven Gerrard before hanging up his international boots in 2012.

Right wing: David Beckham (59)
From a figure of hate to a national great, David Beckham’s redemption story after his 1998 World Cup red card disgrace to leading his side to the tournament four years later is a rare feel good story about the otherwise frustrating ‘golden generation’. The potential of a team that included exceptional talents in almost every position left England fans wondering how Beckham never ended up lifting a trophy as skipper at international level.

READ: Jude Bellingham is the Wayne Rooney of this Golden Generation; will he under-achieve too?

Central midfield: Bryan Robson (65)
Bryan Robson’s record of 65 appearances as captain from 90 caps will soon be matched by Kane, although the Bayern Munich striker will be hoping to avoid Robson’s terrible luck with injuries at major tournaments. Captain Marvel was sidelined in the group stage of two consecutive World Cups, missing out on Maradona’s run in ’86 and England’s run to the semis in 1990.

Central midfield: Steven Gerrard (38)
Thirty more matches as captain than Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard certainly trumps his long-time international midfield partner in the skipper stakes, although the Chelsea icon does share the distinction of oldest outfield captain with West Brom hero Jesse Pennington after leading the Three Lions at the age of 36. Gerrard first wore the armband in 2004 and led his country for the final time a decade later at the 2014 World Cup.

Left wing: Emlyn Hughes (23)
Bill Shankly’s famous remark to a police officer that he had a future England captain in his car after being pulled over turned out to be quite the prophecy from the legendary Liverpool boss, with passenger Emlyn Hughes going on to lead his country 23 times. Whilst his career at Anfield was laden with success, it was an altogether more depressing time at international level, with the Three Lions failing to qualify for a major tournament during his six-year spell as skipper.

Forward: Kevin Keegan (31)
The only man in this XI to have captained and managed England, Kevin Keegan didn’t get the chance to play in a major international tournament until he was 29 thanks to the aforementioned sombre seventies. Keegan was skipper for Euro ’80 but an injury two years later threatened to rob him of the chance of finally playing in a World Cup, with an infamous substitute appearance against hosts Spain in the second group stage proving to be his only game in the tournament and his last in an England shirt.

Forward: Alan Shearer (34)
Like Keegan, Alan Shearer’s international career ended on a depressing note after a shock defeat at the hands of Romania sent England out of Euro 2000. Shearer was only 29 when he called a day on his Three Lions spell, leading to regular calls for the Newcastle United striker’s return to the England fold for the following tournaments. However, his 34 games as captain in 63 appearances was never extended and we missed out on a potential Shearer-Rooney link-up at Euro 2004.

Forward: Harry Kane (62)
A Bayern Munich striker leading England to glory in an international tournament hosted in Germany? It would be quite something.