'I adore Harry Kane' - Tottenham striker key to England's World Cup chances, says Ardiles

Harry Kane’s form at the World Cup will be crucial to England’s chances of success in Russia, according to former Tottenham star Ossie Ardiles.

England open their World Cup campaign against Tunisia in Volgograd on Monday night and Kane has been named captain for the tournament by coach Gareth Southgate.

Tottenham striker Kane heads into the World Cup on the back of scoring 46 goals in 53 appearances for club and country this season, and will be aiming for his first tournament goal after drawing a blank in four games at Euro 2016.

World Cup winner Ardiles is a huge admirer of Kane and has outlined the 24-year-old’s importance to England’s prospects in the coming weeks.

“First of all, I absolutely adore Harry Kane," Ardiles told Goal, as he supported the live screenings of the World Cup at London's Planet Hollywood.

"He is one of the guys who is not only scoring but he creates things and he works very hard for his team. He is a proper player, he is wonderful.

"Of course, when you have a player like that then he is going to be incredibly important to whoever he is playing for, whether it is Tottenham or in this case England. The success for Harry Kane and England are intertwined. If Harry Kane does very well for England, then England will do very well and the other way around.”

Ardiles was invited to watch Argentina's opening game at the World Cup against Iceland, which finished 1-1, by the Argentinian FA.

He received the invitation due to being part of the team that won Argentina's first World Cup in 1978 and he finished his international career with 58 caps, scoring eight goals in the process.

The 65-year-old believes Brazil are the favourites to win the tournament in Russia and has explained why he feels a Lionel Mess-led Argentina are outsiders compared to their old rivals.

“If I have to put my money on one team I would go for Brazil,” he added.

"My dream is for Argentina to be champions but unfortunately it has not been the best football period for Argentina.

"[When] we lost against Spain 6-1, it was a big shock, a big hit and it is not easy to recover from that. We arrived into the World Cup in not the best of minds.

"The best player in the world is Messi and with him absolutely anything can happen, but for something to happen the team has to be much, much better."