<
>

Russia 2018 World Cup draw: England face Tunisia in opening game

England will get their 2018 World Cup campaign underway against Tunisia on June 18 in Volgograd, 1582km away from their training base in Repino.

The last time these two sides met was back in the 1998 World Cup when England emerged victorious with a 2-0 win.

Gareth Southgate's side will then face Panama in their second game of the tournament on June 24 in Nizhny Novgorod, which is 964km away from their base. These two sides have never played a competitive fixture against each other before.

England will also take on Roberto Martinez's Belgium on June 28 in their final group game, which is also 827km away from Repino, taking their total group stage travel up to 6,746km, which is 354km less than what Roy Hodgson's side endured in Brazil 2014.

Despite still considerable distances England will be required to travel, Southgate downplayed the effects it will have on his players while also urging people not to write off any teams.

"Travel wise you have to be adaptable because you're going to be on the road," he told the BBC. "There's a little bit of travelling and it gives us the chance if we get some injuries for them to clear up.

"We've been good at writing teams off and then getting beaten by them haven't we. We don't want to write anybody off.

"The objective is to qualify from the group and you don't know how many points you need for that."

If England qualify from the group stage, they will face a team from Group H in the round of 16 which consists of Colombia, Poland, Senegal and Japan.

If all the predicted sides win their games, and England finish top, Southgate's side will have to face Colombia in the last 16, Brazil in the quarterfinal, France in the semifinal and then beat Germany in the final to win the competition.

A second place finish in the group for England would see Poland as the last-16 opponent with Germany in the quarters, Spain in the semi and a final opponent of Brazil.

England defender Kyle Walker was quick to give his opinion on facing club teammates and Belgium internationals Vincent Kompany and Kevin De Bruyne via social media.

Spurs striker Harry Kane also highlighted his excitement in facing fellow club teammates and Belgium players.

England's full fixture list:

vs. Tunisia, June 18 - 9pm kick off, Volgograd Arena, Volgograd

vs. Panama, June 24 - 3pm kick off, Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, Nizhny Novgorod

vs. Belgium, June 28 - 8pm kick off, Kaliningrad Stadium, Kaliningrad

Group stage

Group A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia
Group B: Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco
Group C: France, Peru, Denmark, Australia
Group D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea
Group G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama
Group H: Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan

Knockout stage

The 16 remaining teams will form a single-elimination bracket. Here are the group matchups:

Match 49: Winner Group A vs. Runner-up Group B
Match 50: Winner Group C vs. Runner-up Group D
Match 51: Winner Group E vs. Runner-up Group F
Match 52: Winner Group G vs. Runner-up Group H
Match 53: Winner Group B vs. Runner-up Group A
Match 54: Winner Group D vs. Runner-up Group C
Match 55: Winner Group F vs. Runner-up Group E
Match 56: Winner Group H vs. Runner-up Group G

Quarterfinals

Match 57: Winner of Match 49 (A/B) vs. Winner of Match 50 (C/D)
Match 58: Winner of Match 51 (E/F) vs. Winner of Match 52 (G/H)
Match 59: Winner of Match 53 (B/A) vs. Winner of Match 54 (D/C)
Match 60: Winner of Match 55 (F/E) vs. Winner of Match 56 (H/G)

Semifinals

Match 61: Winner of Match 57 vs. Winner of Match 58
Match 62: Winner of Match 59 vs. Winner of Match 60

Third-place game

Loser of Match 61 vs. Loser of Match 62

Final

Winner of Match 61 vs. Winner of Match 62