World Cup draw 2018: England drawn with Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G

 
Once more, England were affected by the “Hand of God” but, this time, Diego Maradona’s divine intervention delivered them a World Cup draw that they could have hand-picked themselves. They are in Group G with Belgium, Tunisia and first-timers Panama. Maradona – resplendent in a garish yellow bow tie nestled on a black shirt – drew out their ball and the rich irony was not lost on England nor draw host Gary Lineker who commented, in a line he was clearly desperate to deliver, that “Diego has always been good with his hands”.
The Argentine cheated and knocked England out of the 1986 World Cup in the quarter-finals (a stage they would accept in Russia next summer) when Lineker was tournament top-scorer. “I thought Gary captured that well,” Gareth Southgate said later.

The England manager spoke of facing the unknown and the very well known after a draw which, despite the cautious qualification he placed on it, means there is no excuse if they again fail to get through to the knockout stages.
In fact, Southgate looked a relieved man – so much for his poker-face – and even name-checked the fact that he avoided the likes of “serious contenders” Brazil and, from Pot Four, “really dangerous” Serbia.
Southgate will also be relieved that having decided to base England the other side of St Petersburg, they do not face the most challenging of journeys to their group games: Tunisia in Volgograd on June 18, Panama in Novgorod on June 24 and then Belgium in Kaliningrad on June 28. A total travelling distance of 4,050 miles – less than the 6,000-plus, and different time-zones, it could have been.

If they get through then the last-16 is relatively kind, with England facing a nation from Group H – possibly Poland, Senegal or Colombia – although it would, potentially, be a quarter-final against holders Germany. But let’s not get carried away. Not this time.
“I go back to the last two tournaments, really,” Southgate said when asked what was his message to England fans. “We have to be focused, to make sure nothing is taken for granted which, in fairness, I don’t think is what happened. But we also have to handle the expectation of being one of the favourite teams in the group. For us, as a team, when you’re involved with England that’s the mentality you’ve got to have.
“You know as a second seed you’re going to play two teams ranked below you. But it’s still a bit of an unknown at this moment, it’s great now to get the videos out and start plotting and following exactly the players we’re going to be up against and the coaches.”
The presence of Belgium is fascinating and not least because of their formidable cadre of talent but also because most of it plays in the Premier League and they are coached by former Everton manager, Roberto Martinez. The interaction between the players from the various clubs – in particular Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea – will be an interesting sub-plot ahead of the World Cup.
“Belgium we know pretty much everything about,” Southgate said. “That will capture everyone’s imagination at home. Probably the best team they have ever had. There will be a bit of banter going on at Manchester United, Tottenham and Chelsea with all the players winding each other up.

But Southgate knows that a composite team of the two sides would see few England players making it alongside the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Kevin De Bruyne, Moussa Dembele, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens. That really is a ‘golden generation’.
While they are very well-known there is a little more mystery with Tunisia and, certainly, Panama. “There’s quite a bit of unknown in the group,” Southgate conceded. “We’ve never played Panama, I have ‘palled up’ with the coach from Mexico [Juan Carlos Osorio], so I was hoping he’d give me some insight.”
There is, though, a familiar face in Panama’s coach, Hernan Dario Gomez, who was in charge of his native Colombia when they faced a David Beckham-inspired England at the 1998 World Cup when, of course, Southgate was on the bench. Southgate also played against Tunisia in the tournament and the memories flooded back.
“Tunisia takes me back to Marseille, one of the best days of my life, playing my first game in the World Cup finals for England, an incredible atmosphere down there,” Southgate said. “Just the colour of it, the Beatles music playing before the game. It was a brilliant day. I remember sitting with Teddy Sheringham in doping control for an hour and a half afterwards.
‘‘It will be brilliant occasion to be leading the country out into that same occasion, the first game of the World Cup. I am hugely proud.”
That is the known, also, but there is plenty more of the unknown – and not least from England themselves. “I think what I’m mindful of is that we have a team I’m excited about but who don’t have the trophies and medals, the number of caps which winners and successful teams in past tournaments have had,’ Southgate said. “But equally I’m excited about them, I believe in them and we’re really looking forward to the World Cup.”
“But we have just come from two tournaments where Costa Rica and Iceland knocked us out. It would be folly for us not to be serious about our preparation, but also not being fearful. It is an important balance.”
England should have a sense of equilibrium after this draw.






See also: FIFA's biggest mistakes on World Cup Draw 2018