A 2-0 victory in Albania ensured England maintained its 100 percent winning record and also finished its Group K fixtures without conceding a single goal.

The Three Lions rarely had any difficulty navigating qualification under Gareth Southgate, who guided the team to two Euros finals and a World Cup semi-final, but they have lifted the standards again under Thomas Tuchel.

Only Yugoslavia, which played just four games ahead of the 1954 World Cup, had previously qualified for a finals from Europe while winning every game without conceding.

Kane, who scored both goals against Albania, is not shying away from England's status as one of the favourites ahead of next year's tournament in North America.

"I think it's as good as we've ever had," he said. "When you look at the starting XI, you look at the players coming off the bench, we're going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites. We have to accept that

"We've been like that for the last two tournaments. That's part and parcel of it.

"We've been building, we've had a great year together with the new coach, and now we look forward to obviously a big 2026."

England was already assured of qualification before its win, but Kane was keen to see his side end the campaign and the year on a high.

It heads into a World Cup year on a record run of 11 straight victories.

"We've set the standard now, especially in the last few camps," Kane said. "We've carried it on into this camp.

"It's an important win; you don't want to finish with a loss at the end of the year and have to wait until March to play again. We can go away and enjoy this now."