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Nobody is more qualified than Thierry Henry to talk about finishing, so it was worth paying attention to the former France striker’s analysis of Harry Kane’s second goal against the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

“Striking with the inside of the foot, almost wrapping the ball while the body is off-balance, you have to maintain balance at the crucial moment to take the shot,” Henry said on Fox after the game. “Do you know how hard it is to generate power then? At the end of the game? To redirect it like that? If I did that now, I’d break my back.”

It was extraordinary technique and athleticism from Kane. The striker has called it one of his favourite England goals and explained it was not only down to leg power. Kane rotated his whole body, swung his arms for extra oomph and did not worry about falling to the turf.

Here was an athlete operating at peak physical power. Kane is the reason England are still in the World Cup and Thomas Tuchel is still in a job. The captain saved England against the DRC, equalising with a clever header, then bashing in a spectacular shot to earn a last-16 tie against Mexico. It was an astonishing performance, perhaps Kane’s signature moment at international level, and furthered the forward’s case to be in the conversation when it comes to picking the best player in England’s history.

Where does Kane rank? Way out on his own as the country’s leading goalscorer (the goals against the DRC were his 83rd and 84th in 118 caps), he is in the top 10 at least. The longer Kane has gone on the better he has become. He has five goals from England’s first four games, putting him in contention for another Golden Boot. He has beaten Gary Lineker’s goalscoring record at World Cups.

This is a modern great who stands the test of time. They had this debate on the Stick to Football podcast this week; it did not feel ridiculous when Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Ian Wright and Jill Scott had Kane up there with Bobby Moore and Sir Bobby Charlton in England’s top three.

What the Bayern Munich forward lacks is the standout display at the business end of a tournament. Moore was England’s captain when they won the 1966 World Cup and Charlton won the Ballon d’Or that year. Kane still falls just short. He has faded at previous tournaments and sometimes arrived short of full fitness.

Kane was quiet in the Euro 2020 final. He ensured heartbreak at the 2022 World Cup, missing a late penalty that could have made it 2-2 in the quarter-final against France, and was written off in some quarters after being substituted in the Euro 2024 final against Spain.

The thinking was that Kane was slowing. Not quite. He has 72 goals for club and country this season. He is in contention to win the Ballon d’Or and, with a total distance of 43,433 metres, has covered more ground than any England player at the World Cup.

The statistics sum up Kane’s relentless quest for self-improvement. He has added layers to his game – no striker is better at dropping off to play killer through-balls – and the force of his second goal against the DRC is a reminder of how he takes care of his body. The winter break in Germany has helped. So has Bayern being able to rest him because of their dominance in the Bundesliga.

“It’s probably the best I’ve felt in my career,” Kane said. “I made a conscious effort at the start of this season to be even fitter, to take care of myself even more, looking at different ways to recover better. Also, you need a bit of luck to to stay injury free.

“If you’ve got the leaders training and running like I do, it only helps. You’ve seen that in the games. I’m willing to run more and do whatever it takes to help the team. I look at my stats after each game and it’s really pleasing.”

Working in tandem with Jude Bellingham, Kane has made the difference for England. There are problems across the rest of the team. The wingers have flattered to deceive. The midfield looks weary, the defence has wobbled and there is an injury crisis at right-back. Now England have to handle the fervour of the Azteca Stadium, a rampant Mexico side and the challenge of the altitude in Mexico City.

“There is not much we could do with altitude training,” Kane said. “We did heat training in Florida for 10 days to acclimatise. The altitude was almost impossible to prepare for, unless we stayed in Mexico the whole time or based there for 10 days. Logistically, that wouldn’t have been great for the rest of the tournament. It wouldn’t have been worth it.

“It’s a big talking point and will have a small difference but we’re professional athletes. We have to deal with adversity every now and then. We’re doing as much as we can with little tips to help us. We’ll have to deal with it. There is no other way around it. If we get through it then all of those things will make the win feel even more special.”

Kane talked about peaking at the right time. Kyle Walker, the former England right-back, looked at the performance against the DRC and said there are times when there is nothing better than winning after playing badly.

“One hundred per cent,” Kane said. “You very rarely see the team come out of the gates hot and then sustain that all the way through to the end. It happens but quite rarely. Tournament football is about getting used to each other. What you do learn in tournament football is that there’s not always a perfect way to win.

“We hope that we can play our style but we’re coming up against a team who are playing at home, playing for pride, playing for a place in the next round of the World Cup. You might need to grind it out. You might need to find a difficult way to win.”

Kane sounds confident. He has grown as a leader and become more vocal. He held a huddle on the pitch and delivered a passionate message to his teammates after the win over the DRC in Atlanta. “It’s something I don’t normally like to do in a public situation,” Kane said. “Sometimes I feel like it can look a little bit staged.

“It was more just to make sure we celebrated that moment. After the Panama game I felt like we didn’t really celebrate the moment as much as we probably should have. It’s easy as an England player sometimes to take things for granted and just say: ‘OK, we beat Panama, we’re top of the group, it is what it is.’ But that’s not always been the case for England.”

The aim is to create new memories. England are ready to overcome the obstacles in their way. Kane has done it ever since he was a kid. Against the DRC he had to move on from being denied a penalty during the first half. He is still miffed at the officials deciding he manufactured contact with the DRC goalkeeper, Lionel Mpasi.

“It’s a clear penalty,” Kane said. “When you’re travelling at the speed we travel at on the pitch, and then you get a push in the back as well, in that situation I got to the ball first. You’ve got two options, you can try and jump over the keeper, and if you do you’re probably going to fall over anyway, and you don’t get a penalty. It’s not my problem that the keeper’s come rushing out. I don’t really know what the ref expected me to do.

“He’s initiated the contact, he’s hit me, I’m falling over, and I’ve tried to protect myself. If I keep my leg planted in the floor you risk serious, serious injury. It is a foul. If it wasn’t the keeper and was just a defender using his feet, it’s a foul. I was really surprised it wasn’t given, I was really surprised VAR didn’t intervene as well. In the end it doesn’t matter because we won.”