A Look At How England Have Performed In Last Two World Cup Competitions

 

England get their World Cup 2018 campaign underway against Tunisia on Monday 18th June in a match shown live on BBC from 7.00pm. Gareth Southgate and his team know just how important it is to get off to a winning start but they have the backing of bookmakers.

The Three Lions are red-hot favourites to get things moving, with three points in game one, but England struggled in their opening games in both Brazil and South Africa, meaning there will be plenty of shrewd punters happy to take a shot on an upset favouring The Eagles of Carthage, who are available at 10/1 with Betfair.

Taking a look at England’s performances in the last two World Cups could lend a helping hand to punters when planning their football betting predictions in Russia over the course of June and July.

Brazil 2014 – losing start vs Italy

Dropped into Group D four years ago alongside Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica, football fans back home were confident their side would progress either as pool winners or behind favourites Italy. Things didn’t go according to plan.

It was, in fact, Costa Rica who topped the charts with an unbeaten record of two wins and one draw. Their seven-point tally left them one ahead of runners-up Uruguay, who handed in a couple of wins and one defeat. Italy shuffled off after three games with their stats reading 1-0-2; England disgraced themselves, having managed just a single point. Roy Hodgson’s youthful side went into the break level after Sturridge had struck to cancel out a Marchisio opener but Mario Balotelli had the final say, scoring what proved to be the winner shortly after the restart. Both teams to score in the Tunisian match has been marked up at 29/20 or there’s a chunky price on the Lions to be eliminated after the group stage with 13/2 the best you’ll find.

South Africa 2010 – uninspiring draw with USA

Drawn in Group C eight years ago alongside the USA, Slovenia and Argentina, fans had a little more to shout about, but not much. Five points – one win and two draws – meant England finished second behind America, who snuck across the line on goal difference, having scored two more.

They again failed to bank match one, however, having to settle for a hard-fought draw vs the USA, despite going into the tie as favourites with odds-makers. Steven Gerrard – now manager of Glasgow Rangers – struck an opener inside four minutes but his teammates were unable to make it count, Clint Dempsey eventually forcing a reply on 40.

Fabio Capello sat in the dugout for that match and had the experience of John Terry, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney to call upon, but it wasn’t enough to see them hold their nerve and make a winning start. A draw in Russia is 4/1 with England chalked up on the betting board at 1/3. History doesn’t do a lot to encourage a bet on the cramped odds.

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