Both Tunisia and England enter the World Cup on a hot streak and will face off with each other in their opening match of the competition.
England qualified by winning their respective UEFA groups by going unbeaten with a 8-0-2 record with Harry Kane's five goals leading the way. Tunisia also went undefeated in qualifying going 6-0-2 led by forward Wahbi Khazri and are making its first World Cup appearance since 2006.
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The two teams join Belgium and Panama as members of Group G. England is a legitimate contender but despite underwhelming odds, Tunisia could give it a run in the first match for these respective teams.
World Cup schedule: Tunisia vs. England
When: Saturday, June 18, 2:00 p.m. ET
Where: Volgograd, Russia, Volgograd Arena
MORE: Full World Cup schedule
Tunisia vs. England TV channel, live stream
In the U.S., Tunisia vs. England will be broadcast live on FS1. It can also be live-streamed on fuboTV (7-day free trial).
Tunisia Roster
Goalkeepers: Farouk Ben Mustapha, Moez Hassen, Aymen Mathlouthi
Defenders: Rami Bedoui, Yohan Benalouane, Syam Ben Youssef, Dylan Bronn, Oussama Haddadi, Ali Maaloul, Yassine Meriah, Hamdi Nagguez
Midfielders: Anice Badri, Mohamed Amine Ben Amor, Ghaylene Chaalali, Ahmed Khalil, Saifeddine Khaoui, Ferjani Sassi, Ellyes Skhiri, Naim Sliti, Bassem Srarfi
Forwards: Fakhreddine Ben Youssef, Saber Khalifa, Wahbi Khazri
England Roster
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Gary Cahill, Fabian Delph, Phil Jones, Harry Maguire, Danny Rose, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Ashley Young
Midfielders: Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Forwards: Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Jamie Vardy, Danny Welbeck
Tunisia vs. England facts
- Tunisia and England’s last encounter was in the group stages of the 1998 World Cup. England won 2-0 in Marseille. Their only other meeting was in a June 1990 friendly which ended 1-1.
- England have never lost against an African team at the World Cup (W3 D3), keeping five clean sheets in six games.
- Tunisia have qualified for their fifth World Cup, their first since 2006. They have never reached the knockout stages in their four previous appearances.
- Tunisia won their first ever game at the World Cup on June 2, 1978 (3-1 vs. Mexico). Since then, they have failed to win any of their 11 subsequent matches in the competition (D4 L7). The record for most consecutive winless games belongs to Bulgaria who suffered a run of 17 losses from 1962 to 1994.
- Tunisia have also kept only one clean sheet in their 12 games at the World Cup (0-0 vs. West Germany in June 1978).
- This is England’s 15th World Cup. It’s also their sixth appearance in a row, equaling their longest streak in the competition (6 from 1950 to 1970).
- Since winning their only World Cup in 1966, England have progressed past the quarterfinals only once, doing so in 1990 (4th place). England have also topped their group only once in their last five appearances (2006).
- 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. They have also never scored more than one goal in their last nine games at the tournament.
- Eleven of England’s 62 games at the World Cup have ended goalless, more than any other team in the history of the tournament.
- England had the joint-best defensive record in the 2018 UEFA World Cup qualifiers alongside Spain, conceding three goals in 10 games. They were also one of four unbeaten teams, alongside Belgium, Germany and Spain.
- Named in April 2017, this will be Nabil Maaloul’s first World Cup as manager for Tunisia. He played 74 games for Tunisia but never featured at the World Cup.
- This is Gareth Southgate’s first major tournament as manager for England. He played two games at the World Cup, back in 1998.