Anthony Barry has coached Cristiano Ronaldo with Portugal and Harry Kane at Bayern Munich. When asked to compare the two, he didn't hesitate: Kane is the best ball striker he has ever worked with.
That's a statement worth sitting with. Barry isn't a pundit throwing takes around for clicks. He was on Roberto Martinez's Portugal staff for Euro 2024, standing on the same training pitch as Ronaldo. He joined Tuchel at Bayern in April 2023 and watched Kane arrive from Tottenham and immediately start rewriting the record books. His comparison comes with receipts.
Barry was specific about what set Kane apart — repetition, precision, and equal threat with both feet during warm-ups. "A level I'd never previously experienced," was how he put it. He wasn't talking about career trophies or global fame. He was talking about the mechanics of striking a football, and in that narrow but meaningful category, Kane edges the Portuguese legend.
A big claim on a big night
The timing of Barry's comments wasn't accidental. Kane scored twice as England beat Czechia 3-0 at Wembley on October 6 in the UEFA Nations League, also setting up the own goal that completed the scoreline. He was involved in every single goal. His England tally now sits at 91 from 125 caps — the same number of appearances as Peter Shilton, England's record holder. Kane matched it 8 years and 31 days faster.
He also became the fastest player in Bundesliga history to reach 100 league goals, doing it in 98 appearances. Dieter Müller needed 129. Kane's 2025-26 season at Bayern: 61 goals in 51 competitive games, a domestic double, a Champions League semifinal. He's on the Ballon d'Or shortlist with the ceremony set for October 26 in London.
Ronaldo, for context, sits at 146 international goals from 234 appearances — records that will likely never be touched. Barry wasn't disputing that. His point was surgical: in a shooting drill, in a warm-up, in the pure act of striking a ball, Kane is operating at a level he's never seen before.
What Barry's career gives this weight
Barry has worked at Wigan, Chelsea, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Portugal, and Bayern Munich. He first linked up with Tuchel at Chelsea under Frank Lampard's setup in 2020, reunited with him at Bayern, and is now his assistant with England. That's a coaching CV that spans elite club football and three different international programmes.
When someone with that range of experience makes a direct comparison between two of the most decorated forwards of the modern era, it's not a throwaway line. Kane is 91 goals into breaking every England record that exists, and the man coaching him thinks he strikes a ball better than Ronaldo ever did. That's the story.
