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England will go into their World Cup quarter-final showdown with France boasting “more belief than in 2018”, according to Harry Kane.
The Three Lions are aiming to dethrone the reigning champions at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday and clinch a second successive appearance in the last four.
Though boasting the second-youngest squad at the finals, Gareth Southgate guided England to the semi-finals in Russia four years ago, before eventually succumbing to an experienced Croatia.
The Three Lions then reached the Euro 2020 final, only to suffer a heartbreaking defeat by Italy on penalties at Wembley.
Kane acknowledges expectations are different in Qatar, but says he and his team-mates are determined to go the extra steps this time around.
Addressing the media at a pre-match conference, the captain said: “In 2018, we didn’t really know what to expect from the group. It was a new experience for a lot of us.
“We got to the semi-final – whether we had the full belief to go and win the tournament, I’m not quite sure.
“The belief has been building and building over four or five years now. We entered this tournament believing we can win it. We face a really tough game tomorrow, we’ll go into that game with maybe more belief than in 2018.
“We’re not here just to reach the quarter-finals, let’s put it that way. We know there are some very good teams in this tournament, and we also know that we’re a very good team as well. If we did lose tomorrow, we’d be as disappointed as anyone.
“Between us – the players, the staff, everyone involved – we have a real belief and a real determination to be successful as an England team. We can only prove that on the pitch, we can only prove that by winning games like tomorrow.
“Also, tomorrow isn’t a World Cup final, tomorrow is another step to trying to win the World Cup, we have to be fully focused on that and trying to get through to the next round.”
