The Russia World Cup 2018 is now two weeks away and with the excitement building, you can start planning your summer months of football viewing.
Last December's draw put England in Group G with Belgium, Tunisia and Panama and all three of the games have been scheduled at times which will please office workers country-wide.
England fans are so underwhelmed with any chance of making it to the latter stages of the competition that it enables Gareth Southgate to prepare for the finals with very little weight on his shoulders. Past tournaments have seen England fans experience heartbreak after heartbreak, typically falling short just before the quarter-final stage after succumbing to hype and expectation. They could potentially excel without the constant pressure to succeed and newly-named captain Harry Kane could instil some inspiration and hope that they have been so lacking in recent years.
England are only one of two teams, along with Saudi Arabia, participating in this year's World Cup where all their players play for their own domestic league. Goalkeeping veteran Joe Hart has been excluded from the squad in favour of the fresh likes of Nick Pope, Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford, and youngster Trent Alexander-Arnold has received his first-ever senior call-up following an outstanding season with Liverpool where his side were Champions League finalists.
England's biggest test in Group G is Belgium. The Roberto Martinez-managed team boasts plenty of talent including the likes of Hazard, De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens, though they will have to prove that they are a team who shines as more than a sum of its parts in Russia. This squad contains some of the most elite Premier League footballers from the past season as well as Arsenal legend Thierry Henry as assistant coach. Belgium scored 43 goals in the qualification stages and 11 came from Lukaku, who will be hopeful of continuing a promising first season at Old Trafford.
These two teams are expected to make it out of their group comfortably but Panama are the most likely to stage a shock upset, as they already did so in the qualification stages. This summer's World Cup is Panama's first, and they did so in the most remarkable fashion – finishing one point above the U.S. national team and beating Russia on goal difference. The day that Panama's World Cup campaign was secured, a national holiday was called.
Tunisia's road to the World Cup saw them maintain an unbeaten run where they netted four goals and overcame the likes of Libya, Congo and Guinea.
The full World Cup fixture schedule is below, with timings, venues and TV channels included.
All times BST. Local times are BST +2 apart from games played in Kaliningrad (+1), Samara (+3) and Ekaterinburg (+4).
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Group stages
Thursday 14 June
Russia vs Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 4pm - ITV
Friday 15 June
Egypt vs Uruguay (Group A) - Ekaterinburg - 1pm - BBC
Morocco vs Iran (Group B) - St Petersburg - 4pm - ITV
Portugal vs Spain (Group B) - Sochi - 7pm - BBC
Saturday 16 June
France vs Australia (Group C) - Kazan - 11am - BBC
Argentina vs Iceland (Group D) - Moscow (Spartak) - 2pm - ITV
Peru vs Denmark (Group C) - Saransk - 5pm - BBC
Croatia vs Nigeria (Group D) - Kaliningrad - 8pm - ITV
Sunday 17 June
Costa Rica vs Serbia (Group E) - Samara - 1pm - ITV
Germany vs Mexico (Group F) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 4pm - BBC
Brazil vs Switzerland (Group E) - Rostov-on-Don - 7pm - ITV
Monday 18 June
Sweden vs South Korea (Group F) - Nizhny Novgorod - 1pm - ITV
Belgium vs Panama (Group G) - Sochi - 4pm - BBC
Tunisia vs England (Group G) - Volgograd - 7pm - BBC
Tuesday 19 June
Colombia vs Japan (Group H) - Saransk - 1pm - BBC
Poland vs Senegal (Group H) - Moscow (Spartak) - 4pm - ITV
Russia vs Egypt (Group A) - St Petersburg - 7pm - BBC
Wednesday 20 June
Portugal vs Morocco (Group B) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 1pm - BBC
Uruguay vs Saudi Arabia (Group A) - Rostov-on-Don - 4pm - BBC
Iran vs Spain (Group B) - Kazan - 7pm - ITV
Thursday 21 June
Denmark vs Australia (Group C) - Samara - 1pm - ITV
France vs Peru (Group C) - Ekaterinburg - 4pm - ITV
Argentina vs Croatia (Group D) - Nizhny Novgorod - 7pm - BBC
Friday 22 June
Brazil vs Costa Rica (Group E) - St Petersburg - 1pm - ITV
Nigeria vs Iceland (Group D) - Volgograd - 4pm - BBC
Serbia vs Switzerland (Group E) - Kaliningrad - 7pm - BBC
Saturday 23 June
Belgium vs Tunisia (Group G) - Moscow (Spartak) - 1pm - BBC
South Korea vs Mexico (Group F) - Rostov-on-Don - 4pm - ITV
Germany v Sweden (Group F) - Sochi - 7pm - ITV
Sunday 24 June
England vs Panama (Group G) - Nizhny Novgorod - 1pm - BBC
Japan vs Senegal (Group H) - Ekaterinburg - 4pm - BBC
Poland vs Colombia (Group H) - Kazan - 7pm - ITV
Monday 25 June
Uruguay vs Russia (Group A) - Samara - 3pm - ITV
Saudi Arabia vs Egypt (Group A) - Volgograd - 3pm - ITV
Spain vs Morocco (Group B) - Kaliningrad - 7pm- BBC
Iran vs Portugal (Group B) - Saransk - 7pm - BBC
Tuesday 26 June
Denmark vs France (Group C) - Moscow (Luzhniki) - 3pm - ITV
Australia vs Peru (Group C) - Sochi - 3pm - ITV
Nigeria vs Argentina (Group D) - St Petersburg - 7pm - BBC
Iceland vs Croatia (Group D) - Rostov-on-Don - 7pm - BBC
Wednesday 27 June
South Korea vs Germany (Group F) - Kazan - 3pm - BBC
Mexico vs Sweden (Group F) - Ekaterinburg - 3pm - BBC
Serbia vs Brazil (Group E) - Moscow (Spartak) - 7pm - ITV
Switzerland vs Costa Rica (Group E) - Nizhny Novgorod - 7pm - ITV
Thursday 28 June
Japan vs Poland (Group H) - Volgograd - 3pm - BBC
Senegal vs Colombia (Group H) - Samara - 3pm - BBC
England vs Belgium (Group G) - Kaliningrad - 7pm - ITV
Panama vs Tunisia (Group G) - Saransk - 7pm - ITV
Round of 16
Saturday 30 June
Group C winner vs Group D runner-up - Kazan, 3pm (Match 50)
Group A winner vs Group B runner-up- Sochi, 7pm (Match 49)
Sunday 1 July
Group B winner vs Group A runner-up- Moscow (Luzhniki), 3pm (Match 51)
Group D winner vs Group C runner-up - Nizhny Novgorod, 7pm (Match 52)
Monday 2 July
Group E winner vs Group F runner-up - Samara, 3pm (Match 53)
Group G winner vs Group H runner-up - Rostov-on-Don, 7pm (Match 54)
Tuesday 3 July
Group F winner vs Group E runner-up - St Petersburg 3pm (Match 55)
Group H winner vs Group G runner-up - Moscow (Spartak), 7pm (Match 56)
Quarter-finals
Friday 6 July
Winner match 49 vs Winner match 50 - Nizhny Novgorod, 3pm (Match 57)
Winner match 53 vs Winner match 54 - Kazan, 7pm (Match 58)
Saturday 7 July
Winner match 55 vs Winner match 56 - Samara, 3pm (Match 60)
Winner match 51 vs Winner match 52 - Sochi, 7pm (Match 59)
Semi-finals
Tuesday 10 July
Winner match 57 vs Winner match 58 - St Petersburg, 7pm (Match 61)
Wednesday 11 July
Winner match 59 vs Winner match 60 - Moscow (Luzhniki), 7pm (Match 62)
Third place play-off
Saturday 14 July
Loser match 61 vs Loser match 62 - St Petersburg, 3pm
Final
Sunday 15 July
Moscow (Luzhniki), 4pm
