Article by Aurelian Botezatu – Published Sunday, November 16, 2025, 3:39 p.m. / Updated Sunday, November 16, 2025, 3:41 p.m.
England captain Harry Kane has revealed that an NFL-like playbook could help England win the 2026 World Cup in North America.
The England national team plays away to Albania on Sunday night, but is already qualified for the 2026 World Cup, thanks to an immaculate record: 7 wins out of 7 possible, a 20-0 goal difference and 7 points ahead at the top of the standings.
So it's no wonder that Harry Kane is thinking less about the duel with the second-placed team in his group (K) and more about how he can claim the world title that the English have been dreaming of since the previous one, won precisely in 1966.
In the qualifiers so far, England have scored 25 percent of their goals from set pieces
So far, England have proved formidable in set-pieces, with 25% of goals being scored from corners or free-kicks. And Harry Kane has now revealed that his team could develop a strategy taken from the NFL to succeed at the 2026 World Cup.
“Fixed shots are hugely important. I know it's not the most beautiful part of the game, but we've always been careful about that, both in defense and in attack. I feel it is an asset. “Obviously, Declan Rice and other players of his ilk can cross perfectly and do that week in and week out for their club teams,” said the Albion captain.
Harry Kane: “Hopefully by the summer we'll have a good mix of schemes for set pieces”
The Bayern forward also revealed that he is working with assistant coach Anthony Barry and set-piece analyst Paul Quilter on a genuine “fixed phase guideso we can practice now and not when the final tournament starts and we have a little time to spare.
You want to have a play guide similar to the NFL, in a way. Where you look at the opponent and see if they defend in the zone or man to man, so then we can choose what we want to do. We don't have much time to do that on the ground because the meetings are very important.
With Paul and Anthony here, they try to elaborate. It's about the boys getting on board – more mentally than physically – and hopefully by the summer we'll have a good mix of set-piece schemes to start from.”
