World Cup diary 2018 – Thursday 14 June

Today will see the tournament start, but for many fans in England and beyond thoughts will have been dominated by the release of the Premier League fixtures this morning. You have to ask though, did it really need to be today to coincide with the start of the World Cup? The answer to me at least, is that the Premier League wanted maximum exposure and feels rather like a spoilt child looking for attention by jumping up and down shouting, “I’m here, I’m here”.

However, the reality is that the Premier League has a huge influence and a number of the players taking part over the next month in Russia will have in the back of their mind the hope of a life-changing move to the richest League in the world following a fine showing in the World Cup. Players stock could rise and fall and as an example Newcastle United will monitor closely the form of Serbian striker, Aleksandar Mitrovic, who fired Fulham to promotion. How much will he cost Fulham or indeed another club if he continues his fine form of 2018?

As it is the opening day, here’s a summary of the first games since the 1966 World Cup:

1966       England 0-0 Uruguay

1970       Mexico 0-0 Soviet Union

1974       Brazil 0-0 Yugoslavia

1978       West Germany 0-0 Poland

1982       Argentina 0-1 Belgium

1986       Italy 1-1 Bulgaria

1990       Argentina 0-1 Cameroon

1994       Germany 1-0 Bolivia

1998       Brazil 2-1 Scotland

2002       France 0-1 Senegal

2006       Germany 4-2 Costa Rica

2010       South Africa 1-1 Mexico

2014       Brazil 3-1 Croatia

 

Hard to imagine tonight’s game will be anything other than cagey. Avoiding defeat in your opening fixture is always high on the priority list and Russia have the added pressure as hosts. Opening games are full of banana skins as Argentina and France will testify. However, for me Russia to get the three points in an uninspiring ninety-minutes.

Let battle commence!