How will England get on?

At 1-14 to qualify and 40-1 to finish bottom it’s hard to see them repeating the poor showing of Brazil 2014. However, I fear the Three Lions will come a cropper at the quarter-final stage.

I wouldn’t put anyone off backing England to be eliminated in the group stages but a quarter-final exit looks most likely with Gareth Southgate’s side having a nice last16 draw should they top their group.

I think England reach the final. Their first four games could be Iran, USA, Wales and then Senegal, so they have time to find their feet. Then they’d move on to European nations rather than the big two South American sides.

They have a soft group and possess the necessary belief for those tight knockout matches, so beaten semi-finalists again would look the likeliest outcome to me.

They will probably stutter their way out of the group before going out on penalties to the first decent team they come up against in the last 16 or quarter-finals.

This could be one tournament too far for Gareth Southgate and the Three Lions. It would be disappointing if they reached the quarter-finals, but I think that’s where the dream will end for England and Southgate.

Gareth Southgate’s men will likely bow out in the quarter-finals with their lack of defensive quality and the overreliance on Harry Kane being their undoing.

I can’t see them getting past the quarter-finals. They should top the group but a last-16 game versus Senegal or Netherlands is no gimme and it then may be France or Argentina.