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England's manager Gareth Southgate (R) talks with England's striker Harry Kane during a training session at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent on May 22, 2018, ahead of their international friendly football matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica. (Photo by Anthony Devlin / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE        (Photo credit should read ANTHONY DEVLIN/AFP/Getty Images)
England's manager Gareth Southgate (R) talks with England's striker Harry Kane during a training session at St George's Park in Burton-on-Trent on May 22, 2018, ahead of their international friendly football matches against Nigeria and Costa Rica. (Photo by Anthony Devlin / AFP) / NOT FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING USE / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo credit should read ANTHONY DEVLIN/AFP/Getty Images)ANTHONY DEVLIN/Getty Images

Tunisia vs. England: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info for World Cup 2018

Christopher Simpson
Jun 16, 2018

England will kick off their 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign against Tunisia on Monday, and the Three Lions are pursuing some much-needed redemption after their recent failures at international tournaments.

Under Roy Hodgson, England came bottom of their group at the 2014 World Cup, while at UEFA Euro 2016, they were knocked out in the round of 16 in humiliating fashion by Iceland.

There's some renewed but measured optimism surrounding the Three Lions under Gareth Southgate, but they will need to produce when it counts if they are to make a positive impact on the tournament.

Date:ย Monday, June 18

Time:ย 9 p.m. local time/7 p.m. BST/2 p.m. ETย 

TV:ย BBC (UK), FS1 (U.S.)

Live Stream:ย BBC iPlayerย (UK),ย Fox Soccer 2GOย (U.S.)

Team News

Per BBC Sport's Phil McNulty, Marcus Rashford returned to England training on Friday after dealing with a knee injury, so Southgate should have all 23 players available.

Harry Maguire and Ashley Young are expected to start ahead of Gary Cahill and Danny Rose, respectively.

According to the Telegraph, Tunisia managerย Nabil Maaloul will also have his full squad to call upon, though the north African side are without star playmakerย Youssef Msakni, whoย suffered a cruciate ligament injury in April to end his hopes of featuring at the tournament.

Previewย 

England qualified wellโ€”as they routinely doโ€”going unbeaten in their 10 matches and conceding just three goals in that time.

Per BBC Sport, captain Harry Kane said the side will be targeting glory in Russia:

England beat Nigeria 2-1 and Costa Rica 2-0 in their final friendlies ahead of the tournament, and as football writer Daniel Storey noted, there's a feelgood factor about them right now:

The Three Lions are expected to beat Tunisia and Panama to set up a group-topping decider against Belgium, but things are rarely straightforward with England.

The last time England won their opening game of an international tournament was 2006, when they beat Paraguay 1-0.

In the four competitions they have taken part in since, they have recorded three draws and a defeat in their first matches.

England will be hoping that with their younger, fresher squad, they will be able to avoid making a slow start yet again.

It won't be easy against the Eagles of Carthage, though, who are ranked 21stย in the world.

Tunisia shot up the rankings after going a year unbeatenโ€”a run that included victories against fellow World Cup qualifiers Egypt, Iran and Costa Rica.ย They drew 2-2 with both Portugal and Turkey and lost 1-0 to Spain in their warm-up friendlies.

England should be capable of picking up a win, and getting a tournament off on the right foot would be a positive change of pace. But even if they are able to get three points, there's no guarantee they will come following a convincing performance.