Harry Kane has marked his appointment as England’s youngest World Cup captain by insisting Gareth Southgate’s inexperienced side are capable of winning the tournament in Russia.

Southgate confirmed to the players his decision to hand Kane the armband in a team meeting on Sunday evening at St George’s Park, though the manager had informed the 24-year-old in March. The Tottenham forward, who has 12 goals from his 23 caps, had emerged as the favourite for a role Southgate has previously shared among his senior players and will travel to Russia confident a squad boasting only five players with World Cup experience can cause a surprise.

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“I think we can win it,” he said. “We’re not going to be favourites to win it, we know that. But look at this season: no one thought Liverpool would get to the Champions League final. Look at Manchester United in the Sir Alex Ferguson days, with a young team, dominating the Premier League for years. It’s not really an excuse, being young. It could be a good thing.

“I believe we can win it. That’s what we’ve got to try and do. Anything else is not good enough, really. I want to win everything I do, it’s in my mindset. So do the players. So that’s what we’re going to try and do. There are some really good teams in the World Cup but those dreams of lifting the trophy are worth fighting for. We’re going to fight and give everything we’ve got.

“It’s part of planning for the World Cup, this pressure. You have to deal with it. We have a younger team, a less experienced team, but when we’re out there the fans will expect us to win: especially those first few group games. We expect to, too. That’s part of the experience, playing and coping with that pressure. In the past, we’ve been a bit afraid to say we want to win stuff. We’ve been afraid of the fans’ or media’s reaction. We go into our shells.

“But I want us not to be afraid to say we want to win it. We have to be brave. Whether we go out at the group stage or the semi-final, it’s the same: you don’t win the World Cup. So we’ve discussed it as players and shouldn’t have any fear. We want to win it, we’ll go there and do our best to achieve that.”

Kane first captained his country in last summer’s qualifying draw in Scotland, when his stoppage-time equaliser secured a point, and has had the armband in three games since. He scored five in those games to suggest the captaincy will not blunt his form as he seeks to make more of an impact this summer than he managed during a scoreless Euro 2016. “I don’t think it’ll be a distraction,” he said. “I’m extremely proud to wear the armband, but I have to go and do my job, work hard for the team, and score my goals as well.’

The striker has effectively been chosen ahead of his Tottenham club-mate Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson, who is with Liverpool preparing to face Real Madrid on Saturday and has texted his congratulations.

Southgate had promoted the benefits of shared responsibility since taking up the reins in qualifying – Gary Cahill and Joe Hart have also captained the team – as he sought to develop a strong dressing-room culture which would benefit England at a major finals. But it had always been his intention to make a permanent appointment for the tournament.

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“Harry has some outstanding personal qualities,” said Southgate. “He is a meticulous professional and one of the most important things for a captain is that they set the standard every day. He has belief and high standards and it is a great message for the team to have a captain who has shown that it is possible to be one of the best in the world over a consistent period of time and that has been his drive.

“Of course, Harry will need the support of the other good leaders that we have got around him. You don’t become a top team by just having a good captain with good values because that has got to spread right throughout the group but I think he is the one who is ready to take that challenge on.”

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Kane added: “We don’t have a minimum requirement. It’d be silly to put that on it. We want to win. We’ve had really good teams in the recent past and it’s not gone well in major tournaments. It’s been over 50 years now since we won anything, so no matter how good our teams have been, we’ve not been good enough.

“But we’ve got nothing to lose. We have to go there and be free, enjoy it. It’ll be an amazing experience, one we’ll look back on when we’ve retired. We have to give it everything we’ve got. We want to win everything. That’s our mind-set. That’s all we can do. Whether or not we do or not, we’ll have to wait and see, but we’re excited to get out there.”