Stones ranks Kane in Haaland class as England leaders at critical World Cup juncture

John Stones sees Harry Kane as a striker in Erling Haaland's class as he backed the England captain to smash their Qatar World Cup duck.

England reached the round of 16 without needing a goal from their skipper, taking seven points in their group games and scoring nine times in the process, both totals unmatched in this tournament.< /p>

For Kane it's a surprise not to have scored any of those goals, but he has three assists to his name, more than any other player in the group stage, and contributes significantly without putting the ball in the net.

Four years ago in Russia, Kane's six goals made him the Golden Boot, and he could still enjoy a fine run of form in the next fortnight.

Whether he does or not, Stones has no doubts about the quality of England's number nine.

Asked if Kane is a player of the same caliber as Haaland, who is a Stones team-mate at Manchester City, the England defender suggested they were of comparable quality.

"Definitely yes, it's hard to say obviously. Erling is so new to our league and Harry has played there pretty much his entire life," Stones said.

"Players like those two, their quality always shines through. Maybe they say 'does he need a rest or not?', [but] we never think like that.

"I think players who usually score like Harry and want to score, you all saw his assist the other day was amazing, but those kind of players are also a huge team player.

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"The things we don't talk about, the positioning, the corner headers that we as defenders massively appreciate, and what he brings to the team as a leader and as a person, as a presence, can sometimes prevail over what happens or the outcome of things."

This consideration of Kane's diverse qualities is why England players aren't looking to the captain for his goalscoring touch, ahead of Sunday's last-16 fight with Senegal. All in good time, seems to be the message.

Haaland and Kane have both already been prolific in the Premier League this season, scoring 18 and 12 goals so far for City and Tottenham respectively to take first and second place in the goalscoring charts.

While Haaland misses World Cup action because Norway failed to qualify, Kane has the chance to guide England to glory, a year after finishing second in the Championship Europe.

Looking again at Haaland and Kane, Stones said: "They are both amazing and amazing players in their own rights.

"Harry has always been amazing to me, amazing to play with, and I'm sure he'll be on the scoresheet soon."