Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham’s combined goal haul makes England one of the most player-reliant nations in World Cup history.
In the Three Lions‘ tight 3-2 victory against Mexico at the Azteca, after being reduced to ten men, the pair scored all three goals between them.
Bellingham bagged two in two minutes to send England 2-0 up, with Kane assisting the Real Madrid star’s second, but where does their percentage of goals scored rank in World Cup history?
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Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham make England one of the most player-reliant nations in World Cup history
That win over Mexico was a similar story to games and rounds passed at the 2026 World Cup, with the two scoring a whopping 10 of the Three Lion’s 11 tournament goals.
That began with a Kane brace to send England 2-1 up in their opening showdown vs Croatia, before Bellingham struck to make it 3-2.
Later, Marcus Rashford scored the Three Lions’ sole goal of the tournament from a player outside of that pair.
That game ended 4-2, and since, Kane hit two in a 2-1 comeback win over DR Congo, and the pair bagged one each in a 2-0 victory versus Panama.
The duo have now scored 90.9% of England’s World Cup goals across North America en-route to the quarter-finals, but where does that rank England’s reliance on them all-time, against other nations?
In 2022, England shared 13 goals between eight different players, and in 2018, their 12 strikes came through six different individuals.
In 2014, two from two, in 2010, three from three, and in 2006, five from four — a dramatic departure from this edition’s goalscoring spread.
|
ENGLAND (WORLD CUP) |
GOALS (EXCL. OWN GOALS) |
GOALSCORERS |
|---|---|---|
|
2026 |
11 |
3 |
|
2022 |
13 |
8 |
|
2018 |
12 |
6 |
|
2014 |
2 |
2 |
|
2010 |
3 |
3 |
|
2006 |
5 |
4 |
|
2002 |
6 |
5 |
|
1998 |
7 |
5 |
|
1990 |
8 |
3 |
|
1986 |
7 |
2 |
|
1982 |
5 |
3 |
|
1970 |
4 |
4 |
|
1966 |
11 |
4 |
|
1962 |
5 |
4 |
|
1958 |
4 |
3 |
|
1954 |
8 |
5 |
|
1950 |
2 |
2 |
At the World Cup, using a minimum of five goals scored, only two sides have ever relied on less scorers than this England team.
In 1986, the Three Lions themselves scored seven goals between two scorers, Gary Lineker and Peter Beardsley, with the former getting six.
In 1994, Russia also scored seven goals between two scorers, and in 1954, Switzerland scored 11 between three, the same as the Three Lions this tournament.
This data was uncovered by BOYLE Sports using Opta analysis, which noted that a similarly astounding story lies in Lionel Messi‘s 61% individual goal spread for Argentina this tournament.
France have also impressed through individuals across North America, with Deschamps’ men scoring 14 between just four players, the most prolific of which being the tournament’s greatest ever player, Kylian Mbappe.