Harry Kane will become England's most-capped player on Thursday night at Wembley, leading the Three Lions out as the world's best player for the first time

History-maker Harry Kane says he has enjoyed “proving people wrong his whole career.”

Captain Marvel Kane, 33, will become England’s most-capped player of all time when he makes his 126th appearance against Croatia at Wembley on the back of winning the Ballon d’Or.

But Kane referenced his early days when he was rejected by Arsenal aged eight, his difficult loan spells at Norwich and Leicester and being as nervous as a kid on his first day at school when he first reported up for England.

It was a fascinating insight into Kane’s mentality and also his reputation as a humble superstar as he insisted he could not think of any “diva moments” but maybe that was a question for his wife Kate.

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Bayern Munich star Kane has been driven by targets throughout his rise from Tottenham’s academy and, even after reaching the very top, he is determined to carry on aiming for more.

Kane said: “I think it’s just my mindset, because I’ve maybe had to prove people wrong my whole career.

“From early academy days proving coaches wrong, proving scouts wrong – it has just been instilled in me. I think if someone tells me I can’t do something it just motivates me more to do it.

“I don’t think that mentality will ever leave me. It’s probably part of what makes me push myself to the limits that I do because in football, you’ve never completed it, really.

“No matter what you’ve achieved, there is always a trophy that someone else has won or a goal record that someone else has or whatever it may be, I think there’s always something. But it just helps motivate me to realise there’s a lot more to achieve.”

Those early days and setbacks have also become part of Kane’s identity and the driving force behind his success. From being farmed out on loan to being nervous at his first England camp.

“There’s been a few lows! The toughest part of my career to begin with was the Norwich and the Leicester loans,” recalled Kane. “But when I look back at it now it gave me a certain type of resilience to help me along the rest of my career.

“The World Cup in Qatar, I’ve spoken to you about this, missing the penalty was a really tough moment for me but again the way I bounced back. And even the fact that I scored the next 30 penalties of my career … I changed the technique a little bit. It made me improve.

“I felt nervous coming into my first England camp. I remember Wayne being the first one to talk to me. He was captain at the time and he told me to just be myself and you know it’s kind of relaxed here with the team.

“But I was always confident once I got on the pitch. I felt this is my comfort zone, I know what I can do, I can score goals.”

Kane has not stopped scoring since. His record-breaking goal haul last season earned him the Ballon d’Or and long overdue recognition as one of the best in the world.

He shocked English football not so much by leaving Tottenham as much as opting to go to Germany with Bayern Munich and yet that has helped him take his career to another level.

Kane added: “‘The move has done a lot for me. I think it's made me appreciate European football more. Obviously, growing up in the Premier League, playing in the Premier League, sometimes we're all a bit guilty of just thinking the Premier League is the only thing that exists.

“Going to Bayern, going to the Bundesliga, seeing the fans, seeing the reactions, playing the latter stages of the Champions League for a team like Bayern Munich, the pressure that comes with that, that has all elevated me to another level.

“But going for £100 million and people saying, “He’s going for £100 million, he needs to score this many goals or he needs to follow in the footsteps of Robert Lewandowski and all these things.

“I know people say that Bayern are expected to win, but you still feel the pressure of big games in the title races, big cup games in the German Cup, playing in finals. There's still a big pressure that comes with that. I think that was maybe one of the things I did learn a lot.

“I think I maybe under-appreciated how hard it is still to win even when you're in the best team. But yes, now I've won the trophies and I've been in those moments, I feel even more comfortable in those situations.”