England captain Harry Kane has confirmed he played a round of golf with US President Donald Trump almost 18 months ago, describing the experience as “surreal” and saying the president played “very well” golf.

Trump, who earlier this week revealed he and the Bayern Munich striker played together, praised Kane as both a footballer and golfer after England’s 3-2 win over Mexico in the round of 16.

Speaking in Miami on Friday before England FIFA World Cup In the quarter-final against Norway, Kane confirmed that the pair met in Palm Beach, Florida, when Trump invited him for a round of golf.

“To be honest, I played absolutely fine,” Kane told reporters. “When I was in Palm Beach they invited me to play. So yeah, when the president invites you somewhere…

“Meeting him and obviously playing golf with him was a pretty surreal experience. His golf is pretty good, honestly. I hope when I’m his age I can play as good as him. So yeah, it was a unique experience and I’m just grateful he invited me to play.”

Trump was the first to praise Kane on his social platform Truth after the England captain’s win over Mexico.

“England’s Harry Kane is a great player!!!” Trump wrote.

The following day, the US President told reporters that the two had previously shared a round of golf.

“I think Ken is a great player,” Trump said. “I played golf with him and I like him a lot. He’s a good golfer. He’s really great.”

Kane has enjoyed a stellar World Cup campaign, scoring six goals and pipping Erling Haaland to one in the race for the Golden Boot, as England prepare to face Norway for a place in the semi-finals.

Trump dominates World Cup headlines this week After speaking to FIFA President Gianni Infantino over the suspension given to American forward Folarin Balogun after being shown a red card in the group stage.

FIFA later converted Balogun’s one-match ban to a suspended sentence, making him eligible for the round of 16 tie against Belgium. Infantino said Trump’s intervention had no impact on the disciplinary decision. Balogun participated in the match, but the United States were eliminated after a 4–1 loss to Belgium.

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