Soccer-England to start World Cup quest against familiar foe Croatia

Dec 5 (Reuters) – England will begin their World Cup quest next June against a very familiar foe with seasoned tournament regulars Croatia the first hurdle for Thomas Tuchel’s highly-fancied team.

The 48-nation World Cup is full of unknown quantities but Tuchel’s research for his Group L opener on June 17 in either Dallas or Toronto will be relatively straightforward.

England lost to Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals but gained revenge by beating them in the group phase of the European Championship in 2021 en route to the final.

With Panama and Ghana making up the group, fourth-ranked England’s toughest-looking test will come first up with whoever wins that game favourites to top the section.

Croatia were runners-up to France in 2018 and also reached the semi-finals in 2022, as they did in 1998.

Reacting to the draw from Washington, Tuchel said: “It’s a difficult group and a difficult opening match against Croatia. They were the top seeds in pot two. They are a top team, they are 10th in the world rankings and are regulars in the finals.”

England were the only European team to qualify with a 100% record and expectations will be sky high once again that they can win the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Tuchel, however, said his only focus would be on navigating the group. “Of course, Croatia is the stand-out, they’re the highest-ranked team from pot two but listen, Ghana is always full of talent and can always surprise and has a big history in World Cup football, and also Panama will try to make the most in their underdog role. No one can be underestimated.

“I don’t know much about Panama but we will know everything about them when the tournament starts in June.”

Should England win the group they would face a third-placed team in the last-32, but then their prospective path could get rocky with a possible clash with co-hosts Mexico in the last-16 before Brazil in the quarter-finals and Argentina in the semis.

“Of course you guys wants to map it all out,” Tuchel told TalkSport. “But I know group football from clubs and you don’t think about the round of 16 when you’re in the group, that makes no sense. The first challenge is to win the group.

The draw could potentially change who England face in two friendly matches in March. Japan and Uruguay are the likely opposition but Tuchel hinted that it could be tweaked.

“Maybe we have think twice as we don’t have an Asian team in our group or a South American team, but in general we will have strong opponents in March.”

Former Paris St Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager Tuchel, who took charge of England in January, will not see his players again at close quarters until those friendly games, meaning some frustrating weeks ahead.

“I’m now fully focused on the opponents. I’m looking forward to get the tournament started. I would love to start next week because now the excitement is high,” he said.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

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