England will be looking for a breakthrough in a major competition after so many years when they’ll start their World Cup bid on Monday. They will square up with African side Tunisia, who will try to cause the upset. England has failed to live up to the expectations in recent tournaments and will now try to change that.
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England have only captured the World Cup once in their history, back in 1966 when they were also hosts. They have always dominated the qualifying phase, for every tournament. This time they cruised through the qualifiers with ease, finishing at the top of Group F undefeated (8-0-2). It was not a very hard group, along with Slovakia, Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania, and Malta, so it is no wonder that they did well. It was their defense that was impressive as well, as they were among the best in the tournament with just three conceded. England for the first time in quite a few years have a lethal striker up front, as Harry Kane led the scoring in the Premier League for the past two seasons. However, the lack of an anchor at midfield might leave England struggling to push through the competition.
On the other hand, Tunisia was impressive in the qualifiers as well, finishing at the top of Group A in the African qualifiers (4-0-2). Played with Congo, Libya, and Guinea though, which is hardly the level of opposition they will encounter in the World Cup. As if that wasn’t enough, they saw Msakni, one of their most promising players suffer an injury that will cause him to miss the World Cup. Now all the burden falls to forward Wahbi Khazri, who is by far the most talented of the squad. This will be the fifth time they participate in a World Cup, while they were the first African team to win a World Cup match back in 1978 in Argentina. They had captured the Copa Africa once in their history, back in 2004 when they were also hosts. They overall have very few players of actual quality, with most of their players playing in Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
England World Cup Roster
23-man final squad: Jack Butland, Nick Pope, Jordan Pickford; Fabian Delph, Danny Rose, Eric Dier, Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Harry Maguire, John Stones, Phil Jones, Gary Cahill; Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Ashley Young, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling; Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford, Danny Welbeck
Tunisia World Cup Roster
Goalkeepers: Farouk Ben Mustapha (Al Shabab, Saudi Arabia), Moez Hassen (Chateauroux, France), Aymen Mathlouthi (Al Baten, Saudi Arabia) Defenders: Rami Bedoui (Etoile du Sahel), Yohan Benalouane (Leicester City, England), Syam Ben Youssef (Kasimpasa, Turkey), Dylan Bronn (Gent, Belgium), Oussama Haddadi (Dijon, France), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly, Egypt), Yassine Meriah (CS Sfaxien), Hamdi Nagguez (Zamalek, Egypt) Midfielders: Anice Badri (Esperance), Mohamed Amine Ben Amor (Al Ahli Riyadh, Saudi Arabia), Ghaylene Chaalali (Esperance), Ahmed Khalil (Club Africain), Saifeddine Khaoui (Troyes, France), Ferjani Sassi (Al Nasr, Saudi Arabia), Ellyes Skhiri (Montpellier, France), Naim Sliti (Dijon, France), Bassem Srarfi (Nice, France) Forwards: Fakhreddine Ben Youssef (Al Ittifaq, Saudi Arabia), Saber Khalifa (Club Africain), Wahbi Khazri (Rennes, France)
Get more details: England vs Tunisia 2018 World Cup Match-Up