Harry Kane's record hunt: Bayern star closes in on Lewandowski's mark, but obstacles remain

Close, but still short of the record

Harry Kane scored 36 goals in the Bundesliga during the 2025-26 season and won the European Golden Shoe, finishing the campaign with 61 goals in 51 appearances across all competitions. Even so, he fell five goals short of Robert Lewandowski's record of 41 goals in a single Bundesliga season, a mark the Polish striker reached in just 29 appearances during 2020-21. This was the second time Kane has finished a Bayern season with exactly 36 goals.

Lewandowski's record itself surpassed Gerd Müller's legendary 40-goal tally from the 1971-72 season, which had stood for nearly 49 years before being broken by a single goal.

Impressive numbers

Since joining from Tottenham Hotspur in 2023, Kane has scored 98 goals in 94 Bundesliga appearances and has finished as the league's top scorer in each of his first three seasons in Munich. Last season he needed an average of just 66 minutes to score each goal and recorded four hat-tricks; his 36 goals accounted for more than 29 percent of Bayern's total output. He is now only two goals away from reaching 100 in the Bundesliga.

Hamann's skepticism

Former Bayern and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann, speaking in comments made in association with ToonieBet and to GOAL, believes Kane has the ability to break the record but does not think he ultimately will. According to Hamann, Bayern's progress in the Champions League will be decisive — a deep run could mean Kane is rested in certain Bundesliga matches, especially once the title race is settled. "If you want to beat it, you probably have to play at least 30, probably 32, maybe all the games," Hamann said. Reaching the required 42 goals would demand an average of roughly 1.24 goals per game across all 34 league matches, or 1.4 goals per game if Kane plays only 30.

Season opens with a brace

According to AFP, Kane scored twice on Wednesday, September 2, as Bayern won their DFB-Pokal first-round tie away at VfL Osnabrück. The brace took his overall tally for Bayern to 148 goals in 150 appearances across all competitions. In the same match, 23-year-old Jonas Urbig started in goal in place of Manuel Neuer — coach Vincent Kompany confirmed beforehand that Urbig would continue to be given opportunities throughout the season, as he was last term, when he made 20 appearances.

The 33-year-old Kane is currently in the final year of his contract, and he is expected to sign a new deal with Bayern.