David Beckham has revealed his dream to lead England to World Cup glory next summer while identifying John Terry as a future England captain.

Beckham will lead his country for the 50th time in today's friendly international with Argentina and has revealed his desire to remain skipper for the forseeable future.

But the Real Madrid star knows the time will inevitably come when he has to stand down and he has seen all the qualities in Terry to earmark him as an heir apparent to his throne.

Beckham said: ''I think John has the qualities to be a future England captain. At Chelsea he proves he is a great captain and many players in his team come out and say he is a great captain.

''With a great manager like Jose Mourinho picking him as captain, he is definitely a leader in the team. He has got the kind of inspirational qualities that an England skipper needs.

''He is a great leader on the pitch. He shows a lot of passion and that's what every team needs, a player with that quality who leads from defence and can control the team. That is what he has got.''

Beckham was handed the captain's armband in November 2000 by Peter Taylor during his one match as caretaker manager against Italy in Turin.

He said: ''I was always hoping it was not just going to be for the one game. I wanted to lead my country out more than that and I have done.

''For me at the time it was a great honour to be given the captaincy by Peter Taylor and it was a case of keeping hold of it and proving I could be a captain and a leader. To reach 50 games as captain, is an amazing honour for me.''

Beckham wants to help England win their first major honour in 40 years and also prove that he can play at his best in a major tournament but is aware of the need for the entire side to improve on past performances.

He said: ''The World Cup is the biggest football competition and every young player dreams of just watching the games, let alone playing in them.

''For me, to go to a World Cup is an amazing occasion but it is every players' dream to win a World Cup and to achieve that as skipper would be amazing.''

Beckham admitted: ''I think there are the odd couple of games in tournaments where I've been quite close to my very best on occasions.

''But there have been a lot of people out there that have documented I haven't done as well in the World Cups as I could have done. You always want to put people right and, if I can do that in this World Cup, then great.

''As for the team, we just have to go further in this competition. We want to improve. We want to improve in every competition we play in, in every game we play in and we can do that in all areas.

''There is not one specific area where we can improve and will just concentrate on that. We are going to work on every area possible.''

Beckham has mixed emotions of playing Argentina, being sent off in the 1998 World Cup in France but scoring the penalty that earned victory against them in Japan four years later.

He said: ''The emotions were definitely different. In 1998 it was obviously tough with the sending off and the three years after with what myself and my family had to go through.

''I was lucky I was at a club like Manchester United who had a strong manager in Sir Alex Ferguson that stuck behind me, stuck with me, and the fans and the players were incredible to me in every game I played in.

''It pulls any player through and, of course, family and friends stuck with me and kept it altogether and I am very thankful for that.

''Four years later I go on to score the penalty that beats the Argentinians in the World Cup and that was a special occasion for me.''