Harry Kane will captain England on his 50th international appearance after being named in the starting line-up to face Belgium in the Nations League.
The Tottenham striker was a unused substitute in Thursday’s 3-0 friendly win on the Republic of Ireland at Wembley.
But the prolific Kane will depart for England and reach the cape in Leuven on Sunday evening.
Kane will be supported by Jack Grealish and Mason Mount in attack as England look to repeat last month’s 2-1 home win over Belgium.
How does Kane rank in England history?
The in-form leader Kane is the 62nd player to reach half a century of caps for England.
He scored 32 international goals in 49 appearanceswith Jimmy Greaves (43) on only player to score more on his first 50 outings for the country.
Kane is the first outfield player to win his first 50 caps playing for the same club since Chelsea great John Terry so. He also becomes the first player to win 50 England caps at Tottenhamovertaking Jermain Defoe, who has won 49 caps as a Spurs player.
It’s the 28th time Kane is captain his country, with only Billy Wright (33) and Bobby Moore (31) do it more times in 50 games.
The 27-year-old falls short of the youngest players to reach 50 caps, with wayne rooney and Mike Owen the two only 23 by the time they had reached that count, with Rahim Sterling following the fastest having been 24.
It will be Kane’s 33rd appearance since Gareth Southgate took charge of England. The only player to have been used more often by Southgate is the Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford (37).
Spurs fly high
His international recognition comes amid a stunning start to the season for Spurs, who sit just one point clear of the Premier League summit.
In 14 appearances in all competitions so far in the 2020-21 campaign, Kane has racked up 13 goals and an amazing 10 assists.
He created 22 occasions, 18 of which have come to the Premier League. Only four players have a bigger tally, with the Liverpool star Mohamed Salah in the lead at 21 in the elite.
Kane’s creative streak came as part of a blossoming partnership with Son Heung-min. Both forwards have already tied a record for onenumber of goals two Spurs players have combined for in a single Premier League season (new).
The English skipper winner against Burnley at the end of October, set up by Son, took them 29 goal combinations in Premier League history, second only to Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard at Chelsea.
