Harry Kane Surpasses Lionel Messi Landmark to Close on Cristiano Ronaldo Record

Harry Kane had played in League One, sat on the bench for Leicester City, and was consistently overlooked at Tottenham Hotspur in favor of transfer bust Roberto Soldado before he even made his Champions League debut. Once he was belatedly given his chance on club soccer’s grandest stage, he has made up for lost time.

The living Spurs legend managed to consistently find the net despite the Premier League club’s limitations and his output has exploded since joining a genuine contender in Bayern Munich. Kane had turned 30 by the time he arrived in Bavaria, making his staggering production during the autumn of his career all the more impressive.

After knocking in a brace for Bayern in Tuesday’s chaotic 3–3 draw with Viking, Kane’s record now stands at 36 goals in 40 Champions League games since he hit the big 3-0. For comparison, the legendary Bayern Munich striker Gerd Müller amassed 34 European Cup goals across every age of his career—as did Kane’s compatriot Wayne Rooney.

To put in perspective how impressive Kane’s record is, even Lionel Messi was only able to muster 35 Champions League goals past his 30th birthday.

Kane vs. Messi in the Champions League Post-30

Statistic	Harry Kane	Lionel Messi
Appearances	40	48
Minutes	3,405	4,066
Goals	36	35
Minutes per Goal	94.6	116.2

Kane Two Games Away From Ronaldo’s All-Time Record

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrating. — Cristiano Ronaldo was prolific in the second half of his Champions League career. | VI Images/Getty Images

As Cristiano Ronaldo would no doubt be keen to point out, the former Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United poacher racked up 68 Champions League goals in 74 appearances after turning 30. Kane has some way to go to topple that record but the Bayern Munich forward is just two games away from matching another Ronaldo landmark.

Kane has now scored in nine consecutive Champions League appearances, a streak only Ronaldo has ever been able to surpass since the competition’s rebrand in 1992. The England international’s run began back in January with a brace against Union Saint-Gilloise and carried through Bayern’s entire knockout run, including both unsuccessful semifinal legs against Paris Saint-Germain.

Player	Spell	Scoring Streak
1. Cristiano Ronaldo	June 2017–April 2018	11
T-2. Harry Kane	January 2026–Ongoing	9
T-2. Robert Lewandowski	November 2020–November 2021	9
T-2. Robert Lewandowski	September 2019–August 2020	9
T-2. Ruud van Nistelrooy	September 2002–April 2003	9
6. Cristiano Ronaldo	September 2013–April 2014	8

Bayern are next up against one of Kane’s favorite opponents: Arsenal. The former Gunners academy reject turned Spurs icon has scored 15 times against his perennial north London rivals. “Arsenal are a strong team and I had a lot of great battles against them over the years,” Kane mused earlier this month. “I can’t completely ignore this background, but I’ve also played against Arsenal with Bayern a number of times now. The main thing for me is doing my job and winning the game.”

Should Kane extend his impressive run, he could fittingly match Ronaldo’s record in Madrid. Atlético host Bayern on Nov. 3 in the stadium where Kane endured in 2019 his lowest moment in the competition, toiling through a Champions League final defeat to Liverpool while half-fit.

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