The battle to emerge victorious is well and truly on, but will Kane and Co have half an eye on what other superstar goal-getters are doing? When that question was put to Barnes, the former England playmaker – speaking in association with viagogo and their ‘World Cuts’ campaign – told GOAL: “If it means helping England go through, yes. If he (Kane) feels he wants to score goals to compete against them, which could be to the detriment of the team, because he may be more selfish, because he’s going to compete against them, rather than doing what’s right for the team – I’m sure Harry isn’t going to look at that or worry about that.
“Harry’s got to worry about what’s right for the team. And as a captain, he wants to do well for the team. And yes, if he scores goals, he scores goals. But if he doesn’t score goals, any more of them in the World Cup, and Mbappe or Haaland scores more than him, that’s not going to be an issue with him, I’m sure. And I’m sure that’s the attitude he’ll have, as well as knowing that his goals will help England.
“I think he’s more worried about helping England to win, rather than him necessarily being the top scorer. And I’m sure Haaland and Mbappe are going to be the same thing, because I’m sure Mbappe wants to score goals. But if it means him scoring less goals and France winning, I’m sure he’ll do that. Look at (Ousmane) Dembele and all the people that France have. So individual honours for me mean nothing, and I’m sure for Harry it will mean nothing as well.”
