Bent hails Rooney as England's greatest ever goalscorer despite Kane closing in on record

Kane scored four first-half goals in England's 10-0 thrashing of San Marino to secure automatic qualification for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward has notched 48 goals in 67 games for England and is six goals short of Rooney's haul.

The 28-year-old became the first player to score four goals for the Three Lions' in a single game since Ian Wright, who scored his quartet against the same opponent in 1993.

Three-time Premier League Golden Boot winner also holds a better goalscoring record in major tournaments than the current Derby County manager - Kane netting 10 times at championships compared to Rooney's seven goals.

With Kane edging closer to Rooney's record, former England striker Bent remains adamant that Rooney is England's best striker of all-time.

"In terms of all round, I am still probably going to go for Rooney," he explained. "Listen, I didn't see Bobby Charlton so I can't talk about his form. You watched the videos in terms of how great he was.

"Of course, Gary Lineker - goal scorer. If you talk about all round, I'll probably still go Rooney. I think Rooney had the lot as well. There were times he played wide, dropped a bit deeper and had the whole package.

"But, of course - Harry Kane is going to break this record relatively easy. He might hit something like 70 if he continues at the rate that he is going. It's hard to say that he's the best now, right at this minute," Bent added.

"Obviously, Jimmy Greaves - people talk about him. In the era he did it in terms of the conditions and pitches. But you are asking me, I would probably say Rooney right now."

Jack Wilshere, like Bent, was not hesitant in choosing Manchester United's all-time goalscorer over Kane.

"Well I played the majority of my games with England with Rooney," he told talkSPORT last week.

"I played a few with Harry but that was when he just broke into the team, really, so I'm going to have to pick Wazza.

"You think about him early years when he was explosive, he was unplayable."

"He used to get angry in training," added Wilshere

"He used to pick the ball and just drive past three or four players and smash it in.

"Remember when he scored that goal for United when he was moaning at the ref?

"The Newcastle volley, he was just getting angry and then - BANG!"