Football fans celebrated the 2018 World Cup draw today after it meant they won’t have to book any days off work to watch England matches at the pub.
England will face Tunisia, Panama and Belgium in Group G – with the games taking place on a Monday night, Sunday afternoon and Thursday night respectively.
Daniel Cornwall wrote: ‘Good World Cup draw for the (English) pub industry…two evening and one Sunday game(s) and a great chance of England progressing? Quarter Final Vs Brazil or Germany!?’
Three Lions fans celebrated the 2018 World Cup draw today after it meant they won’t have to book any days off work to watch matches at the pub
‘Rhys’ tweeted: ‘Honestly can’t wait for the World Cup now, bouncing around a pub when England score.’
And Matthew Brown expressed his delight at the timing of the Panama game, writing: ‘Seriously buzzing that I’ve got my wedding on the Saturday and then we’re spending our first day married in the pub watching England #supersundaysesh.’
But Phil Bradley struck a more sombre note, tweeting: ‘Football down the pub – yep. But the days of really being fussed about the England national side are gone.’
England were the penultimate team picked from Pot 2 by Diego Maradona, in what was a favourable draw for the Three Lions at the Kremlin’s State Palace today.
Other supporters pointed out that the tournament’s first weekend will cover Father’s Day next year on Sunday, June 17, with one saying: ‘What a great gift from Fifa.’
Darren Stevens tweeted: ‘At least we won’t have to book any time off work to watch the England games.’ And David Laidler said: ‘This is a great World Cup already. Two evenings and a weekend game!’
Football fans pointed out that the World Cup draw meant most people would not have to book time off work – while pointed out that the tournament’s first weekend will cover Father’s Day
Gareth Southgate’s side will face Tunisia in their opening game in Volgograd on Monday, June 18 at 7pm UK time.
This will be a repeat of their first game in the 1998 World Cup in France, when goals from Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes gave England a 2-0 win in Marseille.
They will then travel to Nizhny Novgorod on Sunday, June 24 to play Panama at 1pm, with their final group game being played against Belgium on Thursday, June 28 at 7pm in Kaliningrad.
Maradona, famously for his Hand of God in Mexico against England in 1986, drew the balls from Pot 2 and put Gareth Southgate’s side in Group G.
It gives the Three Lions a relatively modest amount of travelling and a relatively easy task of progressing to the last 16.
Belgium remain tough opponents and England will do well to beat Roberto Martinez’s side when they are ranked fifth in the world.
England will face Belgium, Tunisia and Panama in Group G; they face the Africans first
The draw pits club team mates against each other – like Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen
But Tunisia and Panama should not represent an insurmountable task even if some of Southgate’s players did contrive to lose to Iceland.
The Three Lions face Roberto Martinez’s much fancied Belgians in Kaliningrad in their final group game, and will begin their tournament against the Tunisians – just as they did in France ’98.
Belgium have beaten England only once in 21 meetings – back in 1936 – but the side that boasts Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku is a fearsome beast.
The middle game comes against debutants Panama – who provide another link to 1998, as they are managed by Hernán Darío Gómez, who coached Colombia against England in France.
Football fans and pundits talked about the draw on social media, while one fan suggested that everyone should book the day after the World Cup final off work
At one stage there was a 50-50 chance of either Brazil or Germany but host Gary Lineker joked that Maradona was good with his hands and so it proved once more, the Argentina legend only drawing England with two balls to go.
When they were then placed in G4, that left them facing a 1,081 mile trip from their training base in Rapino, near Saint Petersburg, to Volgograd for their opening game.
They will then go to Nizhny Novgorod – 727 miles – before finally to Kaliningrad – a comparative jaunt at 626 miles.
This means total travel distance of 2,434 miles – given it could have been over 6,000 had they been drawn in a different spot, it was another stroke of luck for England.
Gareth Southgate will hope this tournament bucks the trend of recent poor performances
Belgium are top seeds in England’s pool, and the two sides will meet in the final group game
Group B saw neighbours Spain and Portugal paired together – they will face each other in their opening match – as well as Iran and Morocco, while reigning champions Germany were placed in Group F and will begin their defence against Mexico, before facing Sweden then South Korea.
Iceland’s first ever game at a World Cup finals will be against Argentina, as the side who embarrassed England at Euro 2016 were paired with the two time winners in Group D.
Nigeria were drawn in the same group as Lionel Messi’s nation for the fifth time in six tournaments. Croatia rounded off the pool.
The opening game of the tournament will be Russia versus Saudi Arabia in Moscow, as they were paired in Group A with Egypt and Uruguay.
England’s opening game is against Tunisia – mirroring the draw from the 1998 World Cup
The other side in England’s group are Panama, who are in their first ever World Cup finals
England managed to avoid favourites Brazil, who were placed in Group E with Switzerland, Costa Rica and Serbia. They could, however, face in the quarter finals, while Germany are also potential last eight opponents for the Three Lions.
Group C contains France, Australia, Peru and Denmark, while Group H has Poland, Senegal, Japan and Colombia. Should England progress, they will play one of the teams from H in the round of 16.
The draw for the tournament – which will take place between June 14 and July 15 2018 – was conducted at the Kremlin on a snow-swept day in Moscow.
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker – who was top scorer at the 1986 World Cup for England – hosted proceedings, with the draw conducted by great footballing names including Diego Maradona and Gordon Banks.
Gary Lineker – top scorer at the 1986 World Cup – co-hosted proceedings in Moscow
The draw was opened by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russia President Vladimir Putin
The structure of the draw was different to previous years, with all four pots decided by the teams’ FIFA rankings, rather than by confederation as in past years.
This left England in Pot Two and at danger of facing tournament favourites such as Germany or Brazil, but also meant they avoided the likes of Spain and Uruguay, who were also in their sector.
England manager Gareth Southgate will hope this tournament bucks the trend of recent poor performances.
His side, under the management of Roy Hodgson, were eliminated from Brazil 2014 in the groups stage after one point from three games, while in Euro 2016 they were embarrassed by Iceland in the last 16.
England have only won the World Cup once, on home soil in 1966. Their best showing abroad was in Italy in 1990, when they were beaten on penalties in the semi finals.