More prolific than Messi and Ronaldo - Kane's electric start to season

There is an air of inevitability around Harry Kane this season, as he breaks records and sees nets bulge for Bayern Munich.

The 32-year-old has scored a remarkable 17 goals in nine games for the German champions this term.

And he became the fastest player this century to reach 100 goals for a club playing in one of Europe's top five leagues in just 104 games, beating the record held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland (105).

BBC Sport looks at Kane's statistics from the 2025-26 campaign so far and how they compare to some of the most prolific strikers the game has seen.

Kane outshines superstars Lionel Messi, Ronaldo and former Bayern forward Robert Lewandowski when it comes to goals scored at the start of a season.

In fact, only Erling Haaland in his RB Salzburg days has equalled the England captain's 17.

Serial goalscorer Ronaldo managed to find the net 13 times with Real Madrid in the first nine games of 2014-15.

Eight-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi's best tally after nine games of a new season is 12 in 2011-12 and 2017-18 with Barcelona.

The prolific Lewandowski notched 13 goals after nine games in 2021-22 for Bayern.

Haaland scored 17 in nine in 2019-20 with RB Salzburg, though they do not play in a top five European league.

Across a whole season, yes, but Kane's current run has only been bettered twice before by Messi and Ronaldo.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo's best run across nine games came in April 2018 when he found the net 18 times for Real Madrid.

Argentina legend Messi also netted 18 times across a span of nine matches back in March 2012 while in the colours of Barcelona.

Haaland has equalled Kane's 17 on two occasions - first in September 2019 for RB Salzburg before managing the feat again for Manchester City in October 2022.

Lewandowski struck 16 times in nine games between February and August 2021 while playing for Bayern.

Kane, who scored twice in Tuesday's Champions League thumping win over Pafos, came so close to European immortality in 2019 when he started for Tottenham's final defeat by Liverpool.

But how does his record in Europe's elite competition compare?

Only seven players, who have scored a minimum 10 goals, have a better goals-per-game ratio in the Champions League than Kane.

In 59 games, Kane has netted 44 times - meaning he scored 0.75 times per game.

All-time leading Champions League scorer Ronaldo has a ratio of 0.77 with an incredible 140 goals in 183 games, while Messi struck 129 times in 163 games - taking his ratio to 0.79.

Haaland stands alone at the top with 1.02 goals in every Champions League after netting 50 times in 49 games.

Kane's early career took a slower trajectory than the likes of Messi, Ronaldo and Haaland after learning the ropes while on loan at Norwich, Leicester, Leyton Orient and Millwall before being thrust into the spotlight at Tottenham.

The England captain appeared 435 times for the north London club and found the net on 280 occasions. He was also well on his way to topping Alan Shearer and becoming the all-time leading Premier League scorer before relocating overseas.

But, at Bayern, Kane is a different beast. He reached 70 Bundesliga goals in just his 67th game in the competition, faster than anyone else in the league's history.

England's all-time leading scorer has found the net every 79 minutes in the Bundesliga.