Under less pressure than usual, England should thrive, even against a determined opponent such as Tunisia.
Kick off
Monday (June 18), 20:00, Volgograd Arena (Volgograd)
Head-to-head
England and Tunisia have a short head-to-head history. They’ve encountered each other once in a World Cup. It was an opening group stage game during the 1998 World Cup which The Three Lions won 2:0.
Preview
Tunisia finished the African qualifying campaign with four wins, two draws and one point ahead of D.R. Congo. It is a team that lies somewhere between Iran and Morocco. Head coach Nabil Maaloul has players who congest the area in front of goal, but also has forwards with pronounced offensive skills. In the five preparation friendlies, The Eagles of Carthage defeated Iran and Costa Rica 1:0, drew with Portugal and Turkey 2:2 and lost 1:0 to Spain. Those are all results worthy of respect. Anice Badri and Fakhreddine Ben Youssef were the goalscorers in both draws and will be the players to watch from this squad when they take the Volgograd Arena field against England.
After a successful qualifying campaign that saw Gareth Southgate’s men concede a mere three goals in 10 games, tying Spain for the best defensive record in the 2018 UEFA World Cup qualifiers, England will look to brighten England’s dark World Cup past over the last few decades. The squad led by Harry Kane is one of the youngest in the tournament. Marcus Rashford, Jesse Lingard, Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli and Trent Alexander-Arnold make up a roster of potential superstars who won’t be afraid to assert themselves on the world’s biggest stage.
England had a list of very challenging friendlies before the World Cup that included Germany, Brazil, Holland and Italy. Southgate’s men did not lose a single match (3 draws and 1 win) and then beat Nigeria and Costa Rica in the last two June games. The former England international employs a defence with three center backs – John Stones, Phil Jones and Harry Maguire and two wing backs. The formation is adapted to the lack of a typical attacking midfielder, with Jordan Henderson and Dele Alli acting as the main creators. It’s an unusual England, the type we aren’t accustomed to seeing.
Prediction
England have never lost against an African team at the World Cup (3 wind and 3 draws), keeping five clean sheets in six games. On the other hand, Tunisia have kept only one clean sheet in their 12 World Cup matches. What that tells me is that England will score and will not lose. I’m loving the fact that The Three Lions are finally evading tradition and that Southgate is bringing something new to the table. Tunisia will not give in easily, but England’s attacking firepower should prevail eventually.
