A young England side are set to start their 2018 World Cup campaign against Tunisia at Volgograd Arena tonight. The match is scheduled to start at 12:00 am in Bangladesh time. Let’s look at some of the statistics ahead of the thrilling encounter.
Head to head:
1) The last time these two sides met was at the France World Cup in 1998 - it remains the only competitive fixture between them. Tunisia and England were drawn as the opening fixture in their group that year and the Three Lions got off to a comfortable start by beating Tunisia 2-0 in that game.
2) Just one other time the two teams faced each other was in an international friendly back in 1990 which ended in a 1-1 draw.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. England:
1) It is England’s sixth consecutive FIFA World Cup - matching their previous record set between 1950 and 1970.
2) England have never lost against an African team at the World Cup (W3 D3), keeping five clean sheets in six games.
3) England have won only one of their last eight games at the World Cup (D4 L3), a 1-0 victory over Slovenia in June 2010.
4) England have also never scored more than one goal in their last nine games at the tournament.
Tunisia:
1) Tunisia booked their return to the FIFA World Cup after a 12-year absence, topping Africa Group A, to head to their fifth edition of the tournament.
2) Tunisia could keep only one clean sheet in their 12 games at the World Cup (0-0 v West Germany in June 1978).
3) Tunisia have never qualified for the second round in any edition of World Cup.
Leave your comments