Underachievers England eye a sterling start
YOUTHFUL With Tunisia and Panama in the group, Southgate’s team could seal prequarter finals berth before Belgium tie
World Cup in 1966, England have progressed past the quarterfinals only once, doing so in 1990. They have also topped their group only once in their last five appearances, finishing on top when grouped with Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden in 2006.
Harry Kane comes into the World Cup with a lot of expectations.
Apart from being England’s main man in the forwardline, Kane was also handed the captain’s armband by manager Gareth Southgate. appearances (overall) goals
had disrupted his World Cup build-up for nearly a month, Kane returned in April, even scoring against Nigeria in a friendly. He has had a hand in six goals for England in World Cup qualification – scoring five and assisting in one, twice as many as any other England player. the fans is unmistakable. Compared to England, whose fans have been barely visible so far – perhaps due to the hysteria over possible attack from ‘hooligans’ – many Tunisian flags were visible across Moscow on Saturday.
With Youssef Msakni, the
only one of their last eight games at the World Cup, drawing four and losing three. Their only win was a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in June 2010. They have also never scored more than one goal in their last nine games in the tournament.
expected to inspire an England side — one of the youngest at this World Cup, with only Gary Cahill (32), Manchester United's Ashley Young (32) and Leicester City’s forward Jamie Vardy (31) above the 30-year mark. appearances (2017/18)
to carry forward his brilliant form from the Premier League that saw him finish just two shy of Mohamed Salah’s record-breaking
32-goal run. goals team’s creative engine, out due to injury, the onus is on Saif-eddine Khaoui to step up. Rennes forward Khazri has regained form in France after a disappointing spell at Sunderland and will be hoping to be noticed by some prominent European club as he seeks a per- manent move away from England. Tunisia haven’t won a World Cup game since 1978 but this time there is hope riding on the team despite the absence of any big name.
Nabil Maaloul’s team has lost just one game this year – 0-1 to Won Drawn Lost
Matches Best finish: Winners in 1966 Spain following a late goal. Wins against Iran and Costa Rica were followed by draws against Portugal and Turkey prior to that defeat. Aymen Mathlouthi is a calming influence in goal while Europe-based players Syam Ben Youssef and Yohan Benalouane teammate
Dele Alli
will be pivotal to
England’s success at the
World Cup with the squad lacking any real options in the creative department in midfield. His link up with Kane may hold the key
to England’s goal-getting.
Raheem Sterling and Vardy — who was one of the most hyped players going into the Euro 2016 campaign, but netted just once — are others who could contribute to England’s cause. the joint-best defensive record in the World Cup qualifiers alongside Spain, conceding three goals in 10 games. They were also one of the four unbeaten teams, alongside Belgium, Germany and Spain. Won Drawn Lost
Matches
Best finish: Group stage in 1978, 1998, 2002, 2006 are likely to feature in the backline.
England have often started slowly at the World Cup and against a talented Tunisian team, any laxity could be punished severely by the 2004 African champions. Venue: Volgograd Arena, Volgograd Bronn
Skhiri Badri
Maaloul Meriah Youssef Khaoui Sassi Sliti
last encounter was in the group stages of the 1998 World Cup. England won 2-0 in Marseille. Their only other meeting was in a friendly in June 1990 which ended 1-1.
62 games at the World Cup have ended goalless, more than any other team in the history of the tournament. Walker Trippier Capacity: 45,568 Alli Stones
Henderson
Young
Lingard Maguire Source: ladbrokes.com