Ranking every one of England's opening World Cup group games

The expansion of this year's World Cup finals means it's felt like an age before England have got their campaign underway, but they begin on Wednesday night against Croatia. 

It's one of the tougher opening fixtures across the twelve groups, with the Three Lions coming face-to-face with a team that revels in major tournaments and who beat them in the semi-finals in 2018. 

However, England's group stage record isn't one to be sniffed at. In sixteen tournament appearances, they've only lost their first group match on three occasions and have been victorious in them across the past two finals. 

DAZN News takes a look back and ranks each one of England's opening World Cup fixtures. 

---

England win a World Cup penalty shootout win!

Relive England’s historic victory over Colombia in 2018

---

16

1962 - Hungary 2-1 England 

The first time the Three Lions suffered defeat in the opening game was in the 1962 finals at the hands of Hungary. 

The Hungarians took a first-half lead before Ron Flowers levelled things up from the penalty spot, but it wasn't enough and the defeat came courtesy of a Florian Albert goal to inflict an opening day loss on England. 

15

2014 - England 1-2 Italy 

2014 is the only time England have failed to win a single group game at a World Cup and it began with this defeat to Italy. 

Daniel Sturridge pulled England level after going behind just after the half hour, but it was Mario Balotelli that won it for the Italians with the clincher five minutes after the break. 

14 

1986 - Portugal 1-0 England 

In the heat of Mexico, England got off to the worst possible start in Monterrey, as they were bested by Portugal. 

Carlos Manuel won the game 15 minutes from time as Bobby Robson's Three Lions struggled to get out of the group phase until Gary Lineker's one-man show in the final fixture against Poland. 

13

2010 - England 1-1 USA 

A game memorable for some as ITV infamously accidentally went to a commercial break just as Steve Gerrard put England into an early lead. But in truth, the rest of the game was pretty missable from Fabio Capello's point of view. 

Robert Green's blunder allowed Clint Dempsey's shot to sneak under him, and it meant a share of the points between the Three Lions and USA. 

Getty

12

1966 - England 0-0 Uruguay 

It may have been the tournament of English football's finest-ever moment for the men's national team, but it didn't quite start with a bang. 

In fact, it was more of a whimper as Sir Alf Ramsey and his side played out a goalless draw with Uruguay to open the home World Cup. 

10

1958 - Soviet Union 2-2 England 

England twice came from behind to peg back the Soviet Union in this opener from the 1958 finals in Sweden. 

Derek Kevan and Tom Finney were the Three Lions goalscorers, who would eventually finish below their opponents in the group and fail to progress to the next round. 

9

2002 - England 1-1 Sweden 

The Swedes have often been a thorn in England's side, and Sven Goran-Eriksson's men couldn't get the better of them in this opener in Saitama. 

Sol Campbell's header had given them the lead, but it was cancelled out by former Everton man Niclas Alexandersson in the second half as both teams had to settle for a point. 

Getty

8

1990 - England 1-1 Republic of Ireland 

Two years after the Irish had shocked England at the Euros, they met again in their opening game of Italia '90. 

Gary Lineker continued where he left off in 1986 by scoring the opener for Bobby Robson's men, before Kevin Sheedy ensured they'd be a share of the spoils for Jack Charlton's Green Army. 

7

1954 - England 4-4 Belgium 

There was plenty of action in this one, as England's second-ever World Cup opener turned into a goal fest with Belgium in Basel. 

A brace each from Ivor Broadis and the great Nat Lofthouse wasn't enough to keep the Belgians at bay, who also scored four to level up the scores. In a strange quirk to the tournament, the two final goals from each side came in extra time, something that was added to group stage games if the scores were level after 90 minutes. 

6

2006 - England 1-0 Paraguay 

A bit of a laboured win for England's 'Golden Generation' in Frankfurt as they struggled to break down the South Americans in the afternoon heat. 

Carlos Gamarra's own goal just four minutes into the game was enough to decide the game, as he turned in David Beckham's inswinger into his own net. 

5

1950 - England 2-0 Chile 

A first-ever World Cup game for England, who did not participate in the first three tournaments and it saw a win against Chile in Rio. 

Stan Mortisen and Wilf Mannion were on target either side of the break for Walter Winterbottom's debutants as they enjoyed a first-ever victory on football's global stage. 

4

2018 - Tunisia 1-2 England 

Harry Kane came to England's rescue in Russia just as it looked like it could be a sticky start for Gareth Southgate's team. 

Kane had already put the Three Lions in the lead inside eleven minutes, but they were pegged back through a Ferjani Sassi penalty. Therefore, it needed a stoppage-time header from the skipper to ensure a win and begin a memorable tournament where England would reach the semi-finals. 

Getty

3

1998 - England 2-0 Tunisia 

Another meeting with Tunisia, but this one was much more straightforward. Kicking-off in the afternoon heat of Marseille, England scored in either half to begin their tournament in France. 

Alan Shearer headed Glenn Hoddle's men into the lead before Paul Scholes put the icing on the cake late on in the second half. 

2

2022 - England 6-2 Iran 

The most emphatic opening win from the Three Lions came just four years ago, when Gareth Southgate's men blew away Iran during the first opener played in the winter. 

A brace from Bukayo Saka plus goals from Jude Bellingham, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish put the game to bed in a confident performance from England. 

1

1982 - England 3-1 France 

England's best opening win? Well, a victory that came courtesy of their fastest-ever World Cup goal.

Bryan Robson scored after just 27 seconds to give Ron Greenwood's men the lead against the French, and they'd go on to dominate the game. 

A second for Captain Marvel and a Paul Mariner goal were enough to set the Three Lions on their way where they'd win all three group games in Spain. 

Watch World Cup archive, highlights and documentaries for FREE on DAZN

DAZN is the home of FIFA+, a vast library of football on-demand content including World Cup archive, iconic documentaries, player profiles, live matches, and both full match replays and highlights.

Watch it all for FREE on DAZN on smart TVs, phones, tablets, streaming devices, games consoles, and web browsers.