World Cup: Why England's opening game history has taught the nation to be stoic ahead of Croatia test
HISTORY has shown that England's opening World Cup games are generally to be endured rather than enjoyed.
Of course, there is the odd outlier.
Try the curtain-raiser against Iran in the last tournament for instance when Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka starred in a convincing 6-2 romp in Doha.
Southgate was the one and football was coming home again. Alas ...
Spain 82 was pretty damn good at the start as well. Bryan Robson's goal after 27 seconds against France in Bilbao – the fourth fastest strike in World Cup history – was the precursor to a 3-1 victory.
Unfortunately, the competition ended with recriminations about Trevor Brooking's fitness and Kevin Keegan's sore back.
Overall, England's opening appearances haven't been overly memorable.
But if tonight's introduction against familiar opponents in Croatia doesn't go as we want in Dallas, fear not – there is hope.
An anti-climactic goalless draw versus the Uruguayans in 1966 left most wondering on what Alf Ramsey based his confidence that England would actually win the tournament.
Bobby Robson's class of 1990 similarly underwhelmed against Jack Charlton's Ireland in their opener in Cagliari.
A 1-1 draw in the rain was decried by the national and international media and viewed as a wretched advertisement for British and Irish football.
Just under a month later, England had an open-top bus parade from Luton Airport on their return from Italy following a restorative tournament.
It put the country back on the football map for the right reasons after the scourge of hooliganism. Ireland were heralded across the water too.
Like many of his predecessors, Thomas Tuchel, whose first experience of tournament football with England arrives in the AT&T Stadium this evening, has serious selection posers at the start of what will hopefully be a long and glorious World Cup adventure.
Bellingham as the '10' or his fellow Brummie Morgan Rogers? What about at centre-half? Will he plump for the experience of Barnsley's John Stones, a player whom he clearly likes.
And what about on the left? Barcelona-bound Anthony Gordon or a player who excelled at the Camp Nou last season in Marcus Rashford?
Decisions, decisions, but good ones. Although there's definitely no debate about Harry Kane being the leader of the pack up top.
Not for the first – or last – time, England were indebted to their talisman in their last summer World Cup start in Volgograd eight years ago versus Tunisia at Russia 2018.
Kane’s brace, including a wonderful header to win it late on, secured three points. A repeat would do nicely.
Winning is the modus operandi. Winning with style tends to be a bonus. Any sort of victory against the canny Croatians would surely suffice.
Since 1966, England have won six of their 12 World Cup openers, losing two. It's a fair record.
That said, some episodes have been dull, even dreadful.
There has been fleeting brilliance – see 2022 and 1982 – and some bad luck; England were unfortunate to be edged out by the Andrea Pirlo-inspired Italians in Manaus at Brazil 2014. Most can aptly be described as 'hard-fought'.
Getting over the line was the order of the day in Mexico 1970 when England started their World Cup defence as they had finished it in 1966, with Geoff Hurst emerging as the match-winner in Guadalajara.
He netted the only goal against Romania on a day when Bobby Moore showed his class after the infamous Bogata Bracket incident.
A narrow single-goal victory got the Golden Generation on their way, seemingly, at Germany 2006 thanks to a third-minute own goal from Paraguay's Carlos Gamarra in Frankfurt.
That was relatively uneventful and uninspiring. Some of England's openers have been rather more eventful, for the wrong reasons, for certain individuals. Events, dear boy, as Harold Macmillan once said.
Who can forget Rob Green's error in Rustenburg at South Africa 2010 to gift the Americans a point when he allowed a speculative shot from Clint Dempsey to horribly creep past him.
Then, there was Steve McMahon's error at Italia 90 shortly after coming on as a substitute against the Irish, with Kevin Sheedy being the gleeful beneficiary.
A mistake from Leeds United's Danny Mills let in former Sheffield Wednesday man Niclas Alexandersson for a leveller for England's old nemesis Sweden in Saitama in 2002, while the usually reliable Kenny Sansom erred in a 1-0 reverse to Portugal in Monterrey at Mexico 86.
Let's hope there's none of that tonight.