'It was too risky' – Tuchel confirms Kane will miss Wales friendly

Thomas Tuchel has confirmed that England captain Harry Kane will miss the Three Lions' international friendly with Wales on Thursday.

Kane was a doubt heading into the game at Wembley Stadium, having picked up a knock during Bayern Munich's 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt at the weekend. 

The 31-year-old's absence was confirmed by Tuchel in his pre-match press conference, opening the door for Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins to lead the line. 

Kane has been in sensational form for Bayern this season, netting 11 goals in just six Bundesliga outings for Vincent Kompany's side, who are at the top of the table. 

He reached a century of goals for Bayern in just 104 matches in all competitions, the quickest a player has hit the landmark for a team in Europe's top five leagues on record. 

It was a record previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland, who did so in 105 matches for Real Madrid and Manchester City, respectively. 

While Tuchel confirmed Kane would miss the match against Wales, the German was hopeful his star striker would be available for their World Cup qualifier against Latvia. 

"Harry will miss the game. He got a kick in his last game with Bayern Munich," Tuchel told reporters on Wednesday.

"It was too risky that he got another kick and would be in an up and down situation pain wise. I think we are convinced he will be ready for the match against Latvia.

"The options for captains will be one of Jordan Henderson, John Stones and Declan Rice."

Since the start of 2025, only Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe (44) has scored more goals than Kane's 39 among players across Europe's top five leagues. 

Despite his heroics, Kane finished 13th in the recent Ballon d'Or rankings, lower than England team-mate Cole Palmer, who took eighth place. 

Tuchel, however, believes Kane should have finished much higher, saying: "I never know when the Ballon d'Or is and what the ranking is. I'm the last person to see it and know it.

"I'm not the biggest fan of individual awards because I truly believe you can only win in football, the field is too big as a team player, and he stands out in what he does.

"He should be higher than 13th for sure."

England have a favourable record against Wales, having won each of their last seven meetings with their rivals across all competitions. The Three Lions are only currently on longer winning streaks against Luxembourg (nine), Andorra and San Marino (both eight).    

However, England have lost their last two friendly matches, against Iceland in June 2024 and 1-3 against Senegal in June earlier this year, last losing three non-competitive games in a row in 1985 under Sir Bobby Robson.  

"It will mean it's a good atmosphere. I think there will be a lot of Welsh fans here," Tuchel said.

"We play football so hopefully it will be emotional and loud and have the character of a derby. I can imagine what Craig Bellamy tells his players.

"I think they want to make the most out of their role as an underdog. I can assure them that we will not underestimate them.

"We know how well coached they are and know we need to be fully focused to not let them develop their quality. If it gets emotional, loud, the better."