Sir Geoff Hurst says England must ease the goalscoring burden on Harry Kane if they are going to win the World Cup this winter.
Three Lions legend Hurst, hat-trick hero of England's 1966 World Cup triumph, believes Gareth Southgate's side have what it takes to lift the trophy in Qatar. But he says Southgate's players must share the goals around and not be over-reliant on captain Kane to put the ball in the net if they are to end the nation's 56-year wait for a major trophy.
“At major tournaments like the World Cup, it's beneficial if you've got a number of players who can score goals,” said Hurst. “You could argue we may be a bit too reliant on Kane. It would be nice if the likes of Declan Rice, whom I spoke to about this a while back, could improve his game by nicking a few more goals, like Martin Peters did.
“Kalvin Phillips scored a goal recently in one of the games at Wembley, so I do think they need to be coming up with more goals – even the centre-halves coming in and nicking one or two. In 1966, we had Roger Hunt and Jimmy Greaves, both of whom were great goalscorers. Jimmy got injured, of course, then I came in and scored goals.
“Martin [Peters] had a great goalscoring record, I think it was something like one in three for England. Alan Ball scored goals and Sir Bobby Charlton, for a midfield player, his goalscoring record was astonishing.
“People talk about Wayne Rooney and Kane beating his record, but Bobby was a midfield player. He played 106 games and scored 49 goals – one in two at international level. It shows how important it is for a number of players within the team to score goals. You can't just rely on one player, because they might not get the service or they might get injured.
“I'm a classic example of someone who didn't start the World Cup, competing behind two of the greatest players in English football history in Roger and Jimmy. Jimmy got injured, I came in and, of course, the rest is history.” Hurst does not think England's recent poor results in the Nations League – two defeats to Hungary and draws with Germany and Italy – will have any bearing on their World Cup chances.
“I don't take too much notice of a couple of poor results in the Nations League, with the games being played when they were,” said Hurst. I think Gareth was looking at as many players as he could, in preparation for the World Cup.
“I'm really optimistic about our chances in the World Cup. In the last couple of big tournaments, we've reached the final of the Euros and the semi-finals of the World Cup. That was a major step forward on our performances prior to that and I'm a lot more hopeful, as a fan of England, than I have been for some time.”
Hurst is an ambassador for McDonald's Fun Football initiative, which gives free access to football for all children aged from five to 11, whatever their ability or circumstance.
“It's the biggest grass-roots participation programme in the UK,” said Hurst. “Over the next four years, one million children will have access to free football.
“With the cost of living crisis now, the chance for parents to take their children to a free football fun day is a really important thing.
“Football is such a great sport because it's about a team environment, as opposed to an individual one. It's inclusive to all and it's about having fun, which is the key message.”
McDonald’s Fun Football is offering one million kids access to FREE football over the next four years as part of the largest grassroots football programme in the UK. Start your kids football journey by visiting McDonalds.co.uk/Football
