HARRY Kane fired back yesterday after Gary Lineker’s four-letter blast at England’s Euros display.
BBC footie pundit and ex-Three Lions ace Lineker had called the team’s 1-1 draw against Denmark “s***” in his podcast.
But captain Harry responded with a cutting reminder that the England sides the 63-year-old played for “won nothing”.
Skipper Harry warned of the impact on the morale of the younger players after former Three Lions ace Lineker’s four-letter outburst.
Match of the Day host Lineker had slammed the team’s performance against Denmark in his The Rest is Football podcast with former Man City ace Micah Richards.
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Stressing he thought the England manager was “a f*g great human being”, he said of Thursday’s 1-1 draw: “I mean, you can think of all sorts of words and expletives if you like, but it was s*”.
But asked at a press conference if Lineker should “stick to flogging crisps”, Harry pointed out that the England teams the 63-year-old had played in had never won a trophy.
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Harry, 30, went on to warn of the impact the current criticism by pundits can have on the morale of the younger players.
He took aim at doubters after a game of darts near the England base, and urged fans: “Don’t panic.”
Lineker and pundit Alan Shearer had lambasted England after their 1-1 draw with Denmark in BBC coverage of the game in Frankfurt.
Other former England players also took aim.
Wayne Rooney said: “It was a flat performance, there wasn’t energy or balance in the team. I’m putting it on the players as well.”
Gary Neville said: “There’s an imbalance in the team, square pegs in round holes.
“You end up giving the ball away and we look like a mess.”
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And Rio Ferdinand described the team’s performance as “lacklustre” adding: It lacked any sort of direction. Tactically, well below par.”
But Bayern Munich goal machine Harry — substituted during the Denmark game despite scoring — said: “All I’d say is, just remember what it was like to wear the shirt.”
He added: “I’d never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially a player who’s worn the shirt and knows what it’s like to play for England.
“But ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise that it’s very hard not to listen to it now — especially for some players who are not used to it.
"I know they’ve got to be honest and give their opinion but also their responsibility . . . people do care about what they say and people do listen to them.”
Lineker won 80 caps for England and scored 48 goals for his country, 16 fewer than Harry has in 93 appearances.
The former favourite played in a team which reached the semi-final of the 1990 World Cup in Italy — a feat matched by Harry in Russia in 2018 — but never won an international trophy.
Harry said: “The bottom line is that we have won nothing as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that — they know how tough it is. It’s not digging anyone out. It’s just the reality.
“They do know it’s tough playing these major tournaments and tough to play for England.”
The Three Lions won their first Group C match at Euro 2026 1-0 against Serbia but struggled to hang on to a draw against a battling Denmark on a quagmire pitch.
However, they go into tomorrow’s final group game against Slovenia top of their group and already virtually assured of a place in the tournament’s knockout stages.
They remain favourites to beat Slovenia and win the group to avoid big guns in the next round.
At a news conference yesterday, Harry implored fans to stay calm and trust manager Gareth Southgate to make the Lions roar again.
'Don’t panic!'
And he used the Dad’s Army plea “Don’t panic!” at least five times to curb jitters back home.
He said: “We have been here before, we’ve got a lot of experience so it’s not a time to panic.
“It’s almost like a boxer in the first couple of rounds just seeing where everyone’s at.
“You don’t play yourself out of the tournament.
“Just be calm, and that’s kind of where I think we’re at.
“We know we can improve, but it’s not a time to panic and think we need to change everything.” Harry said England’s Holy Grail-style quest for a first trophy in 58 years was still on track after the squad’s massive improvement under Southgate in recent years.
The skipper added: “The bottom line is we’re trying to achieve something as an England team that we’ve never achieved in our history.
“We’ve come close and we’ve been the closest in recent history so we know how to get it done, but we also know there’s a lot of hard work along the way.
“There’s a lot of good teams and it’s going to be difficult and there will be times we’re going to have to grind (out results).
West Ham and England midfielder Jarrod Bowen has also spoken of his surprise at Lineker’s “s*” comment.
He said: “I didn’t know it was as strong as that. I thought his podcast might be a little bit more PG.
“They’re more than entitled to speak about the games. But the reality is, we’re top of the table.”
Lineker also branded Southgate “tactically inept” in the Denmark match on his podcast.
But he added: “It’s really hard to be critical of Gareth Southgate, because overall in the England role he’s turned England’s fortunes around in many ways.”
Lineker’s spokesman last night said he did not wish to comment on Harry Kane’s reaction.
