His last act of what he hoped would be a glorious summer was to trudge, broken and weary, from the field in Berlin with half an hour still to play on that hot night in mid-July. 

After that final of Euro 2024, lost to Spain at the death, England manager Gareth Southgate finally admitted what had been apparent throughout the tournament. Harry Kane was worn out.

Kane scored goals during England’s haphazard and utterly unconvincing passage to the final. He always scores goals and he headed for the beach seven weeks ago with three to his name. 

And now for the first time, Kane has admitted he was not at his best at the Euros and nor were some of England’s other big players. 

Ahead of Saturday’s first game under interim coach Lee Carsley – against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin in the Nations League – the England captain has vowed to come again on the international stage and lead his country towards the World Cup in America in the summer of 2026.

‘There was a lot of talk during the euros about me and my condition but I felt in good shape,’ insisted Kane.

‘Did the games go as well as I wanted them to? No not really but I think there was a lot of us who fell below par in terms of individual performances.

‘We did extremely well to get to where we got to. I think that was mainly down to our team spirit and the cohesion we had developed over the years but sometimes when it doesn’t go the way you want it to go there is always something to look for and blame.

‘The tournament was tough. We were winning games and getting through but we knew we weren’t playing as well as we have in other tournaments or games leading up to the tournament.

‘There was quite a few individual performances throughout the tournament that were below par from ourselves – me included. 

‘We struggled to find a bit of rhythm and consistency throughout the tournament and then as you get to the knockouts it’s such fine margins all you’re thinking about is how to get through to the next round.

‘We did extremely well to get to the final because there were some good teams at the Euros but we still managed to get to another European final. 

‘Ultimately in that game against Spain we came up against a really well-organised team, a team that were playing the best free-flowing football in the tournament. We got punished for that in the end.’

Kane expects to win his 100th cap when England face Finland at Wembley on Tuesday night. He is 31 now and will be almost 33 by the time the World Cup rolls around. 

Still waiting for the first medal of his senior career, he hears the chatter about his longevity and the questions about his ability or otherwise to push on at the top level.

Next summer Bayern will take part in FIFA’s controversial Club World Cup, also in America. It is scheduled to last for a month. That will mean he will head to USA 2026 having not had proper summer’s break from football for three years. 

Against that background, can he really hope to emulate the likes of former Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski, still playing for Poland at 36, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who has just scored his 900th career goal, for Portugal on his 2013th international appearance?

‘It’s a great question,’ Kane said.

‘Cristiano is the benchmark. Not only being one of the best footballers ever to play, but also the benchmark of how long you can play for at a higher level.

‘I think sometimes in football, and maybe in sport in general, there’s a perception that when you get to your thirties it’s time to start slowing down.

‘But, like I’ve touched on before, players like Ronaldo, Messi, Benzema, Lewandowski have had incredible careers in their thirties and have almost upped their level and really reached their peak.

‘Cristiano is just showing this every week, every time he plays, every time he scores, so from my point of view, that’s the aim. I want to play as long as possible for England.

‘I’m sure there will be noise around me, like there still is around Cristiano, but as long as you keep performing and keep doing what you know you can, that’s all you can do.

‘Sure, that will be even more difficult now with the Club World Cup because we will pretty much be going all year round. You have to learn and adapt to the situations as you go along.

‘No-one really knows how that tournament is going to go but from a personal point of view I will always try to adapt and learn from different occasions and different tournaments, always learning from my body to get into the best shape possible.

‘Ultimately, this is something players have to get used to now.’

Kane made his debut for England under Roy Hodgson in 2015 and scored after 79 seconds. Including Sam Allardyce – who left the post after just one game – Carsley will be the former Tottenham striker’s fourth national coach.

After eight years of Gareth Southgate – a period that saw England reach two Euros finals and the last four of the 2022 World Cup – Kane admits life feels a little different already.

‘Yeah, it was a little bit strange coming into the camp and not having Gareth [Southgate] and Steve [Holland] here,’ he said.

‘But I think Lee’s been great. He’s come in, he’s been really calm. I think he understands as a team we’ve done really, really good things.

‘But whenever you don’t win a tournament you can look to improve on things and I think that’s where we are now

‘Lee’s had different ideas, obviously tactical, all the way down to set-pieces, all little things that each coach has their own identity with. That’s what we’ve been getting used to as players, because a lot of us have been used to Gareth for so long.

‘A lot of the younger players here know Lee from the Under 21s so they have a good idea of how he wants things done.

‘It’s always the need to impress. You want to get off to a good start in training, you want to show a new manager what you can do and that’s been no different. I think everyone has felt that in the team. Lee has been trying to do what he wants to do and from my point of view I’m trying to do what I want to do.

‘We’ve had a couple of conversations where I said to him if he needs anything to help with the squad and vice versa.

‘For me I see my role as trying to lead by example, trying to help the younger guys. Ultimately it’s about trying to set a good example. We’ve set a good culture with our national team. 

‘Lee has told us how important the game is, just through the performance and with the aim of winning as well, so he wants to get off to a good start, as do we.

‘Lee’s come in. He will have watched the last tournament and the games back and seen areas where we can improve. That’s his role now, to try and get us playing even better. Time will tell but that’s what we’re trying in this game and in this camp and those Lee is here for.’