{"id":16950,"date":"2026-11-13T14:01:06","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T14:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/13\/englands-most-capped-players-in-history-as-kane-sets-record-top-5\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T14:01:06","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T14:01:06","slug":"englands-most-capped-players-in-history-as-kane-sets-record-top-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/13\/englands-most-capped-players-in-history-as-kane-sets-record-top-5\/","title":{"rendered":"England\u2019s most capped players in history as Kane sets record [Top 5]"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"England\u2019s<\/p>\n

England captain Harry Kane has become the country\u2019s most-capped men\u2019s footballer of all time after making his 126th international appearance in the Three Lions\u2019 UEFA Nations League clash against Croatia on Thursday.<\/p>\n

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The Bayern Munich striker surpassed former goalkeeper Peter Shilton, who previously held the record with 125 appearances for England between 1970 and 1990.<\/p>\n

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Kane achieved the milestone when he started against Croatia at Wembley Stadium, becoming the first England men\u2019s player to reach 126 senior international caps.<\/p>\n

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The 33-year-old was honoured before kick-off, with Shilton presenting him with a commemorative award, while Prince William handed him a special shirt bearing the number 126.<\/p>\n

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Kane also marked the occasion on the pitch, scoring a penalty in England\u2019s 2-1 victory over Croatia to increase his international goals tally to 92.<\/p>\n

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The striker, who made his England debut against Lithuania in March 2015, already holds the national team\u2019s all-time goalscoring record, having moved past Wayne Rooney\u2019s previous mark of 53 goals in March 2023. The Guardian+2<\/p>\n

Here are England\u2019s five most-capped men\u2019s players in history.<\/p>\n

1. Harry Kane \u2013 126 appearances<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Kane sits at the top of England\u2019s all-time appearance chart after overtaking Shilton with his 126th cap against Croatia.<\/p>\n

Since making his international debut in 2015, the striker has established himself as one of the country\u2019s most influential players, captaining the national team and becoming its leading goalscorer.<\/p>\n

He won the Golden Boot at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, helping England reach the semi-finals, and subsequently led the Three Lions to the final of Euro 2020 and Euro 2024.<\/p>\n

His international record includes 92 goals in 126 appearances, making him both England\u2019s most-capped men\u2019s player and its leading goalscorer. <\/p>\n

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2. Peter Shilton \u2013 125 appearances<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Former goalkeeper Peter Shilton held England\u2019s appearance record for 36 years before Kane surpassed him.<\/p>\n

Shilton represented England between 1970 and 1990, accumulating 125 caps during an international career spanning two decades.<\/p>\n

He featured at three FIFA World Cups, in 1982, 1986 and 1990, as well as the 1984 and 1988 European Championships.<\/p>\n

The former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper was part of England\u2019s squad that reached the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, where they lost to West Germany on penalties.<\/p>\n

Shilton also recorded 66 clean sheets for England during his international career. <\/p>\n

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3. Wayne Rooney \u2013 120 appearances<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Wayne Rooney occupies third place with 120 appearances for England, having represented the national team between 2003 and 2018.<\/p>\n

The former Manchester United and Everton forward made his international debut as an 17-year-old against Australia in February 2003.<\/p>\n

He went on to become one of England\u2019s most important players, scoring 53 goals and holding the national team\u2019s goalscoring record until Kane surpassed him in 2023.<\/p>\n

Rooney featured in three World Cups and three European Championships during his international career.<\/p>\n

He also captained England before announcing his retirement from international football in 2017, although he returned for a farewell appearance against the United States in November 2018. <\/p>\n

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4. David Beckham \u2013 115 appearances<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Former England captain David Beckham is fourth on the list with 115 international appearances.<\/p>\n

The former Manchester United and Real Madrid midfielder represented England between 1996 and 2009, scoring 17 goals.<\/p>\n

Beckham captained the Three Lions 59 times and featured at three World Cups, in 1998, 2002 and 2006, as well as two European Championships.<\/p>\n

He is particularly remembered for his free-kick against Greece in October 2001, which secured England\u2019s qualification for the 2002 World Cup.<\/p>\n

Beckham also became the first Englishman to score at three different World Cups, finding the net in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 tournaments. <\/p>\n

5. Steven Gerrard \u2013 114 appearances<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard completes the top five with 114 appearances for England.<\/p>\n

Gerrard made his international debut against Ukraine in May 2000 and went on to become one of the country\u2019s leading midfielders.<\/p>\n

He scored 21 goals for England and represented the national team at six major tournaments, including three World Cups and three European Championships.<\/p>\n

The former Liverpool midfielder captained England at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 and 2014 European and World Cup tournaments.<\/p>\n

He announced his retirement from international football following England\u2019s disappointing group-stage exit at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.<\/p>\n

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Vanguard News<\/a><\/p>\n

The post England\u2019s most capped players in history as Kane sets record [Top 5]<\/a> appeared first on Vanguard News<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source: <\/p>\n

Vanguard News<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England captain Harry Kane has become the country\u2019s most-capped men\u2019s footballer of all time after making his 126th international appearance in the Three Lions\u2019 UEFA Nations League clash against Croatia… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16951,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}