Actually, in this case it’s quite simple: apply the vertical align to the image. Since it’s all in one line, it’s really the image you want aligned, not the text.
<!-- moved "vertical-align:middle" style from span to img -->
<div>
<img style="vertical-align:middle" src="https://via.placeholder.com/60x60" alt="A grey image showing text 60 x 60">
<span style="">Works.</span>
</div>
Tested in FF3.
Now you can use flexbox for this type of layout.
.box {
display: flex;
align-items:center;
}
<div class="box">
<img src="https://via.placeholder.com/60x60">
<span style="">Works.</span>
</div>