Kane surpasses Rooney to become England’s top goal scorer

Spurs striker becomes his country’s leading scorer with 54th goal, eclipsing Rooney

It was a record-setting night for Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane as qualifying for the European Championship in 2024 got under way on Thursday.

Already the leading scorer in men’s international soccer, the 38-year-old Ronaldo now has more international appearances than any other male player after racking up No. 197 in Portugal’s 4-0 win over Liechtenstein. The former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker marked the occasion by converting a penalty and adding another second-half goal – a powerful free kick from the edge of the area – to move onto 120 in international matches.

Kane, meanwhile, became England’s outright leading scorer in history by netting a first-half penalty in a 2-1 win at Italy. It lifted Kane to 54 goals for his country, one more than Wayne Rooney. Qualifying for Euro 2024, which will take place in Germany, started three months after the World Cup finished.

BELATED REVENGE

Call it belated revenge for England. The meeting with Italy in Naples was a repeat of the Euro 2020 final won by the Azzurri at Wembley Stadium. The teams have met since then – twice, in fact, with Italy gaining a win and a draw in Nations League qualifying last year. This time, England held on after first-half goals by Declan Rice and Kane, who tucked away a spot kick awarded following a VAR review after it was determined that Italy defender Giovanni Di Lorenzo touched the ball with his hand while attempting to prevent Kane from reaching a corner. Kane had missed his last penalty attempt for his country, late in the 2-1 loss to France in the World Cup quarterfinals last year. Italy lost to England in a competitive match for the first time since a World Cup qualifier at Wembley back in 1977. North Macedonia beat Malta 2-1 in the other match in Group C, which also contains Ukraine.

EASY FOR PORTUGAL

Roberto Martinez enjoyed a comfortable start to his tenure as Portugal coach after handing Ronaldo a start against Liechtenstein. The striker was left out of Portugal’s knockout-stage matches at the World Cup but was selected up front alongside Joao Felix – and repaid the faith shown in him by Martinez, who left his role as Belgium after the tournament in Qatar. Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva scored before Ronaldo’s double in Lisbon. Also in Group J, Bosnia-Herzegovina beat Iceland 3-0, while Slovakia and Luxembourg drew 0-0.

JIM RATCLIFFE SAYS HE’S SUBMITTED SECOND BID FOR MAN U

The proposed sale of Manchester United gathered pace Thursday when British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe said he had submitted a second bid for the iconic soccer team. American merchant bank Raine had given bidders more time to fine-tune proposals by extending Wednesday night’s deadline for the latest round of offers for the Premier League club. Ratcliffe is one of the richest people in Britain and has been a United fan since childhood. Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Al Thani is also set to submit a fresh offer and appears to be the main rival to Ratcliffe in the battle to take charge of the 20-time English league champions.

FIFA SETS DATE TO PICK 2027 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP HOST

FIFA set a timeline Thursday to pick the 2027 Women’s World Cup host, giving would-be candidates one month to join the contest ahead of a vote in May next year. Brazil, South Africa and a co-hosting project by Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have previously said they want to bid for the tournament. FIFA said its ruling council – a 37-member global group chaired by the governing body’s president Gianni Infantino – will select up to three bids late in the campaign for a vote by more than 200 member federations. The decision will be made at the FIFA Congress on May 17 next year at a venue not yet announced. The tournament is likely to have 32 teams playing a total of 64 games, though FIFA has not confirmed the tournament format.