Kane draws inspiration from Ronaldo and Messi as he prepares to win 100th England cap

Kane will become 10th England player to reach a century of caps if he plays against Finland on Tuesday

England captain Harry Kane during a training session as he prepares to win his 100th cap in the Nations League match against Finland. Reuters

Harry Kane said he draws inspiration from Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi's longevity as he gets set to win his 100th England cap on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Bayern Munich striker will become only the 10th player to win a century of caps for England when they take on Finland in the Uefa Nations League.

England's talisman will reach the milestone nine years after making his debut and has his eye on surpassing Peter Shilton's record of 125.

“To consistently play at a high level is really difficult,” Kane said. “That’s why I have so much respect for Ronaldo, Messi and these players.

“To be able to do it for 15 years or 20 years is some mindset and some achievement. For now, 100 caps, that’s part of the reason I am really proud. As an England number nine, you come up against some good competition, some of the best strikers in England trying to take your place.”

Kane will become the first England player to reach 100 caps since Wayne Rooney in 2014, who is second on the all-time list with 120. The other centurions are David Beckham (115), Steven Gerrard (114), Bobby Moore (108), Ashley Cole (107), Bobby Charlton (106), Frank Lampard (106) and Billy Wright (105).

"I feel in really good shape, both physically and mentally, at a peak in my career," he said. "Watching other players, Ronaldo scoring his 901st goal [against Scotland on Sunday], seeing him compete at 39 years old inspires me to play for as long as possible.

"I love this game, I love representing England more than anything and I don't want it to end any time soon. For me, personally, now it's about continuing to improve and being consistent both in an England shirt and at club level. I'm hungry for more. I'm determined to keep pushing the boundaries."

Kane, won his first cap aged 21, coming on as a substitute in a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania in March 2015, scoring after only 79 seconds. He has gone on to add a further 65 goals, making him England's record scorer. He also has the most goals for England at major tournaments, with 15.

Kane has set his sights on notching 100 international goals, a milestone only Portugal superstar Ronaldo (132), Argentina ace Messi (109) and Iran's Ali Daei (108) have reached.

Asked whether he would be following up his landmark appearance by targeting a century of goals for his country, he said: “Yeah. What is it, 34 goals [to go]?

“One hundred caps have come round so quick, especially the last few years playing three major tournaments in such a short space of time. In those years I’ve done around 15, 16, 17 caps a year whereas a normal year would be 10.

“The goals were similar. I felt I was on 30 goals and then I went to 50 and then 60. It is definitely there and definitely possible. I feel like I am in a good place and these are good targets to try to reach.

“Some people may see them as unrealistic but I would rather go for something unrealistic and not quite make it rather than be comfortable just saying I will be happy with 70 or 80 goals.”

Kane averaged almost a goal a game for Bayern last season, while his England record is slightly above one goal in two.

He acknowledged that the strike-rate of the world’s top goal-scorers has risen significantly in recent years, with Ronaldo and Messi at their peak regularly scoring more goals in La Liga than the number of matches they had played.

That trend has since been observed in the Premier League, with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scoring 36 goals in 35 games during his debut season in England.

“It [one in two] probably was good back then but nowadays the bar has shifted a little bit,” said Kane. “When you see even my numbers last year and Haaland, Ronaldo, Messi, the standard is getting higher than that.

“One in two is not a bad record, don’t get me wrong, but maybe we have all set the standards and expect more from ourselves. My England record is a bit better than that and I hope to maintain that for as many caps as I have.”