7M - High Oc-Kane: England captain Harry Kane, 33, feeling as fit as he's ever been ahead of brutal Mexico World Cup clash at altitude

HARRY KANE'S marathon season began more than a year ago — and yet he feels in peak condition as he enters the home straight.

The first game of his never-ending campaign was a 10-0 win over Auckland City in the Club World Cup with Bayern Munich on June 15, in which, surprisingly, he did not score.

Harry Kane did not look his best at the Euros two years ago and many suspected he was carrying an injury

A whopping SIXTY-SEVEN matches, 75 GOALS and 386 days later, he will be leading out England against Mexico in the World Cup last 16 in the early hours of Monday morning.

It would be understandable if Kane, who celebrates his 33rd birthday this month, was seriously flagging as he prepares for the high altitude of the Azteca Stadium due to the gruelling schedule.

But, in contrast, the forward feels better than ever, thanks in part to a renewed focus on fitness and recovery at the start of the season, the Bundesliga's winter break and Bayern chief Vincent Kompany not overburdening him over the last few months.

The evergreen striker said: "It's probably the best I've felt in my career.

"I made a real conscious effort at the start of this season to be even fitter, to take care of myself even more, looking at different ways to recover better.

"Also, throughout the season, you need a bit of luck to go your way to stay injury free.

"The last six months have been the perfect lead into this World Cup with the rest from the winter break.

"Playing enough games but not every game.

"Towards the end having bits of rest around the Champions League. I took that into prep camp, into Florida. I felt like I was as good as I've ever felt, that I could help push the team.

"If you have got the leaders of the team, the older guys training and running like I do, then that only helps and pushes them to do that too."

Kane has been at his clinical best at this World Cup, with five goals already including his double against DR Congo in the last round.

But his running stats also back up just what terrific shape he is in right now.

Ahead of that last-32 clash with the Congolese, compared to the rest of his Three Lions team-mates, Kane was third for sprints, second for high-speed running and top for distance covered.

It sums up just how physically capable he is right now — in stark contrast to the last Euros where he seemed to be struggling with a back problem, though he always denied that was the case.

Elaborating further on how he has managed to look so sharp, Kane added: "It's a mixture of stuff. It's the way we train at Bayern with Vincent as well.

"I'm feeling as good as I've felt. You've seen that in the games.

"I'm willing to run more and do whatever it takes to help the team. I look at my own personal stats after each game and it's really pleasing for sure."

While Kane has been captain fantastic at this major tournament, England as a whole have been less convincing.

They blew Croatia away 4-2 in their first group game — but only after a defensively poor first half — before a dull 0-0 draw with Ghana. They then made hard work of beating Panama 2-0.

Thomas Tuchel's side also had a huge scare against DR Congo when they fell behind early, only for Kane to dig them out with his late double in a 2-1 win.

Now they face their biggest test yet against a Mexican team that have won all their games without conceding a goal — and on home turf, too.

Kane knows it will be a challenge but also knows that teams that go all the way in major tournaments rarely hit the ground running and sustain it for the whole competition.

Which is why he is hoping England, like him, are going to peak at the right time against a side they have beaten 3-1, 4-0, 2-0, and 3-0 in their last four meetings — all friendlies.

The ex-Tottenham forward added: "I've spoken before in other tournaments about peaking at the right time.

"It's really important. You very rarely see the team come out of the gates hot and then sustain that all the way through to the end. It happens but quite rarely.

"Tournament football is about getting used to each other.

"A lot of us play for different clubs, so it's about understanding each other's games and you hope, as the tournament goes on, those connections build even more and you get stronger.

"What you do learn in tournament football is that there's not always a perfect way to win. Of course, we want to play a great game. We hope that we can play our style and play attacking football and keep a clean sheet and all these things.

"But we're also coming up against a team who are playing at home, playing for pride, playing for a place in the next round of the World Cup.

"It's not always simple. You might need to grind it out. You might need to find a difficult way to win.

"We've all been in changing rooms where you do find a way to win.

"You get through it and it brings even more togetherness, especially in an environment we're about to walk into.

"We're ready to go. There's no excuses from our side. We're ready to step up to that challenge."