Harry Kane jets off to World Cup anticipating one factor with regards to America

The record-breaking super striker says there is now an ‘expectation’ the Three Lions will finally end 60 years of hurt and lift the World Cup for the first time since 1966

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Harry Kane said he is jetting off to the World Cup with his England ‘brotherhood’ expecting to finally end 60 years of hurt.

The 32-year-old super striker – who has scored 78 goals in 112 England appearances and a record 61 for German club Bayern Munich this season – said there was now an ‘expectation’ the Three Lions will lift the trophy for the first time since 1966.

He backed boss Thomas Tuchel’s band-of-brothers policy of selecting 26 players on chemistry and teamwork over talent.

The England captain is now targeting glory after reaching the final of the past two European Championships under Sir Gareth Southgate.

“In Gareth’s early stage we spent a lot of time talking about trying to make it more together and trying to put club football to one side when we come here with the national team,” Kane said. “And I think year-by-year that got stronger and stronger.

“But now, of course, the expectation is to get over the line and win.”

Kane led the England squad onto a chartered Virgin Atlantic jet from Birmingham to West Palm Beach Airport, Florida, to start pre-tournament training to help them acclimatise to 40C temperatures they could face at next week’s World Cup.

He and Tuchel feature in a documentary called Building The Dream based on England’s qualification for the tournament jointly hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.

The footage shows the German coach telling his players on their first meeting together at their St George’s Park, Staffs, HQ 15 months ago they must be open about discussing their ambition to win.

“The mission, why we are here, is very, very clear. We want to be world champions,” he told them.

Tuchel, 53, said talent alone would not be enough for England to succeed.

“It’s not enough because it’s not only about football,” he said. “I spoke to a World Cup winner and he had been in two tournaments and he said the difference between the quarter-final and the final – it was the same level, the same quality of play.

“But once they arrived as a brotherhood we were ready to die for each other. Guys, let’s do something special.”

Tuchel’s squad – minus the Arsenal stars who played in Saturday’s Champions League final – will prepare for the tournament with warm-up matches against New Zealand on Saturday in Tampa then Costa Rica in Orlando four days later.

They take on Croatia in their World Cup Group L opener in Dallas on June 17.

Most of the 26-man squad – alongside five training reserves – wore matching £200 blue tracksuits as they left St George’s Park in Burton-on-Trent, Staffs, for the eight-an-a-half hour transatlantic flight.

Kane, wearing white trainers, was pictured walking across the airport tarmac with a rucksack. Manchester City team-mates John Stones, 32, and James Trafford, 23, boarded together as players filtered onto the aircraft.

The squad will spend 12 days in Florida before switching to their tournament HQ in Kansas City. Up to 15,000 Three Lions’ fans are expected to begin their transatlantic journeys within the next few days.

Many members of the squad have already been Stateside on holiday after Tuchel recommended it. Several are said to have spent the off-season in the US or Caribbean which runs on the same time zone.

Winger Marcus Rashford, who spent the season on loan at Barcelona from Manchester United, is already in Miami and has been keeping himself in top shape with the help of David Beckham’s club Inter Miami.

In an Instagram post featuring seven photos of himself training, the 28-year-old said: “PREPARED!”

He has taken advantage of state-of-the-art facilities at the MLS club’s Nu Stadium – which are used by Argentina superstar Lionel Messi.

England have left earlier than many other teams to allow more critical training time.

Players must quickly get used to stifling 80% humidity and temperatures of up to 40C to compete at the top level.

Before the flight Tuchel said: “I can’t wait to get on the plane, look over my shoulder, finally have a team behind me and arrive in Florida and do what I love the most, which is be a coach.”

The boss said Team GB Olympians had been consulted on how to beat the heat, adding: “The conditions are not our biggest enemy but it is not to our advantage.

“We are not used to being in this kind of heat and humidity, and even altitude if we play in Mexico. There will be a lot of challenges in this World Cup. The heat is one of them, but we are prepared already.

“We’ve had help from Team GB and specialists all over the world to come up with solutions that help the players to adapt.

“We know exactly the amount of time we want to expose them in pre-camp, the ideal amount of time that you should train in the sun and that we also don’t do too much.”

Ice vests and cooling tents will be deployed during the two forthcoming friendlies to prevent serious injury or exhaustion.

The early departure means that in a break from tradition WAGs have been drafted in to join their partners.

Bukayo Saka’s fiancée Tolami Benson, Jude Bellingham’s partner Ashlyn Castro and Ollie Watkins’ wife Ellie are all expected to fly out.

Partners will be around for casual get-togethers and family gatherings to help England’s aces keep calm and grounded while abroad.

Tuchel will not have all 26 players at his disposal until the end of this week.

Arsenal’s Eberechi Eze, Saka, Noni Madueke and Declan Rice and Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson have been given extra time to recover after playing European finals for their clubs.

Bournemouth midfielder Alex Scott, Fulham star Josh King, Liverpool’s Rio Ngumoha and Arsenal teen Ethan Nwaneri will take their place in the meantime.

Brighton goalkeeper Jason Steele will also join training.

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