England captain Harry Kane on Sunday made the race for the highest goal scorer award at the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia to become more intense.

The Tottenham Hotspur forward scored a hat-trick in their 6-1 win over Panama in their second Group G fixture at Nizhny Novgorod.

Kane who scored both England’s goals in their 2-1 win over Tunisia earlier in the group now has five goals, taking him to the top of the scorers’ chart.

He is now ahead of Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Belgium striker Romelo Lukaku who have both scored four goals each.

Kane scored in the 22nd minute through a penalty kick, and added two others in the 45th and 62nd minutes, before being replaced by Jamie Hardy a minute later.

John Stones (8th, 40th) and Jesse Lingard (36th) added the other England goals.

The win has made England joint group leaders with Belgium, with both securing passage into the Round of 16 on six points each from two games each.

They have also scored eight goals each and conceded two goals each, and their final group match will now determine the group winners.