Harry Kane: We deserve to be Euro 2024 favourites

Harry Kane has insisted England deserve to be the favourites to win the European Championship.

England have been given the tag of favourites to win their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup by a number of pundits and former professionals.

Kane has been part of the England squads who reached the final of the last Euros, the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup and the last eight of the World Cup in 2022.

Asked in an interview with Uefa about England being favourites, captain Kane replied: “I think we have earned this status through our tournaments so far. But we are also a team that has never won a Euros, so we are trying to make history here. It is a goal we want to achieve, but we know it will be a long, hard road. We have to make sure we do everything right because if you are not 100 per cent in these tournaments, you can be punished.

“We’ve had a semi-final, a final and a quarter-final, so I hope we can go all the way and win. We’ve had some really good moments, including myself, but ultimately we’re here to win a Euros and, hopefully, we can do that.

“This squad is one of the best, if not the best, we’ve ever had when you look at the form and the respective leagues that many of us have played in. We’ve got incredible young talent who are fearless and just want to play.”

England kick-off their Euros campaign on Sunday against Serbia, who Kane warned will be no pushovers.

“They’re a team that can hurt you if you’re not set up correctly and defensively they’re really strong,” said Kane. “They will make it difficult for us and they have tall players so they can be very dangerous. If we’re not careful it could be a difficult game, so we need to make sure we get that right.”

Kane said that he feels at home playing in Germany, having moved to Bayern Munich last summer, and received a welcome note from Thomas Muller at the team hotel, which the German national team stayed in last week.

“Tommy wrote to me saying the golf course was great but the weather wasn’t so good,” said Kane. “But the course looks fantastic, the hotel is incredible and being in Germany is a bit like a second home.

“The welcome I received when I arrived at Bayern was incredible and since I’ve been at the hotel, some of the staff have come up to me and greeted me. I’m not saying they want England to win but I think they have a little soft spot for us now that I’m here and that’s fantastic.”

On his role as captain, Kane said: “Captaining England and leading the boys is probably the biggest privilege I can have as a player and I will never take that for granted. This feeling is truly unique. It’s an honour to do this for the fourth time.

“I hope the guys can rely on me and ask me questions and if I can help them overcome something then that’s great. But we have such a good bond, we’re always talking to each other or having dinner together and there’s always conversation and that helps us.”