At long last, Harry Kane’s trophy curse has been lifted as England’s all-time leading scorer helped his side Bayern Munich win the 2024/25 Bundesliga title. The likeable striker from Walthamstow has had plenty of close calls in the past, but in what has been an illustrious – if glitter-free – career to date, the German title is the first team honour of note he’s won. He might have 71 goals for the Three Lions, but until Bayern’s latest top-flight win, Kane hadn’t won a thing!
In this article, we’ll take a look back at Kane’s career and how close he came to winning something in the past, and why he didn’t (hint: it starts with “Tot” and ends with “rubbish”). Then we’ll consider whether this first trophy could open the floodgates and whether Kane still has time left in his career to add a few more medals to his (rather modest) collection.
How Close Has Kane Come to Glory?
We are the Champions!! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/YYHC7k6ldU
— Harry Kane (@HKane) May 4, 2025
Although Kane hadn’t won any team honours until recently, he has amassed a sizeable collection of individual prizes over the years. He has won Golden Boot awards in the Premier League (2015/16, 2016/17, 2020/21), and the World Cup (2018), and has earned the European Golden Shoe (2023/24) and even the Bundesliga Goal of the Season award (2023/24). Add to that his numerous Player of the Year awards and throw in his MBE and Freedom of the City of London, and he’s not done badly.
But things have been decidedly different when it comes to team trophies. This can be largely explained because of the team with whom he spent the majority of his playing career: Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs last won a trophy in 2007/08 when they beat Chelsea at Wembley to win the League Cup. Kane, however, didn’t play his first game for the north London club until August 2011. Since then, Spurs have won diddly squat.
That’s not to say Kane and Tottenham haven’t come close on occasion. Kane has also come agonisingly close to landing a trophy with England too. Then of course, he decided to all but guarantee a trophy by moving to Bayern Munich in Germany, the side who’d won the Bundesliga for 11 seasons on the bounce… but that didn’t quite work out as planned.
Here are Kane’s nearest misses for club and country:
| Team | Season | Competition | Outcome | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tottenham | 2014/15 | League Cup | Runners-up | Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham |
| Tottenham | 2015/16 | Premier League | Third place | Finished 11 points behind champions Leicester City and one behind second-placed Arsenal |
| Tottenham | 2016/17 | Premier League | Runners-up | Finished six points behind champions Chelsea |
| Tottenham | 2017/18 | Premier League | Third place | Finished 23 points behind champions Manchester City and four behind second-placed Manchester United |
| Tottenham | 2018/19 | Champions League | Runners-up | Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool |
| England | 2019/20 | Euro 2020 | Runners-up | Lost to Italy on penalties (Kane scored his!) |
| Tottenham | 2020/21 | League Cup | Runners-up | Man City 1-0 Tottenham |
| Bayern Munich | 2023/24 | Bundesliga | Third place | Finished 18 points behind champions Bayer Leverkusen and one behind second-placed Stuttgart |
| England | 2023/24 | Euro 2024 | Runners-up | Spain 2-1 England |
Some of the abovementioned near-misses were a lot closer than others. Clearly when losing in the Euro 2020 final on penalties, Kane was far closer to glory than when his side ended the season 23 points adrift of Man City in the Premier League title “race” in 2017/18. But every time Kane missed out, and got another year older, he must have started to question whether he’d ever get the chance to taste the thrill of winning a trophy with his teammates.
And then when he moved to trophy-machine Bayern Munich and even they failed to land any silverware… well, he might have even begun to believe in the “Kane Curse”. Thankfully for Harry, the curse has been lifted at long last, and few would argue he didn’t deserve it.
How Kane Earned Silverware with Bayern Munich
As mentioned, Bayern Munich had enjoyed plenty of success in the years before Kane’s arrival, winning the Bundesliga title every season from 2012/13 to 2022/23. Kane himself had an outstanding campaign in his debut season in Germany, banging in 36 league goals, and a further eight in the Champions League. But things didn’t quite go to plan for his new side and although they were the highest-scoring team in Germany’s top flight, they could only finish third on 72 points from their 34 matches.
Part of the problem for Bayern was the overperformance of their Bavarian rivals Bayer Leverkusen. Under Xabi Alonso’s shrewd management, The Black and Reds went the whole league campaign unbeaten to finish at the top of the table on 90 points. But Munich couldn’t even finish as runners-up and slipped to third place behind VfB Stuttgart.
Things were different in 2024/25, however. Former Man City player and Burnley manager Vincent Kompany was installed as Bayern Munich’s new boss (replacing Thomas Tuchel, who was subsequently appointed as England’s head coach). Bayern wrapped up the title with a couple of games to spare, and at the time of writing have lost just two league games all season. Leverkusen must settle for second spot this time around. But Harry Kane can finally celebrate winning something with his teammates.
More Silverware to Come… with England?
Although Kane is nearing the latter stages of his playing career (he turns 32 in July), he still has plenty to offer at the highest level. He once again looks like he’ll be the top scorer in Germany, and with Bayern having got back to winning ways, if Kane is around in the Bundesliga next season, he has a very good chance of doubling the number of trophies he’s won… at least.
Interestingly, Bayern haven’t performed brilliantly in the German Cup (DFD-Pokal) in recent years, having last won it in 2019/20. But now Kane has tasted trophy success, he might well lead the charge for the cup too. The Champions League might be a little tougher to get, though of course the former Spurs man would love to help his side to European glory too.
The big question for England fans, however, is whether the lifting of the “Kane curse” might finally mean England can win a major trophy for the first time since 1966. Well, it’s not too long until the World Cup in 2026, and if Kane stays as fit and sharp as he has been in recent seasons, he’ll almost certainly feature. If England’s leading scorer could do the business in the final at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in July 2026, he’d be a hero for evermore… even to Arsenal fans. Well, maybe.
