You may have heard that a certain big football tournament is kicking off this week. It is of course the 2018 World Cup, hosted by Russia this time. You’ve probably not had the time to work out what matches you’ll want to watch or even when they’re on, so here’s everything you need to know!

Which Nations Are Playing?

There are 32 teams vying to be crowned world champions for the next four years. Here are the groups:

England have been slotted into a fairly fortunate group for the tournament, with most people predicting that we will progress to the knockout stages. In comparison, Group D looks like the tournaments ‘group of death’. Croatia, Nigeria, Iceland and especially Argentina contain quality players that are all expected to perform well in this year’s World Cup.

How Well Will England Do?

According to sports data company, Gracenote, which ran 1 million simulations on the World Cup revealed that England has just a 4% chance of winning the World Cup. This simulation predicted that England have less of a chance to win the World Cup Colombia and Peru, who both have a 5% chance.

Their simulations also revealed that Brazil is most likely to go home as champions ahead of other favourites Germany, France and Spain. There is some good news for England though, according to the calculation England have a 71% chance of reaching the group stage and another 41% chance of getting further. That’ll be better than the last time we tried!

When Is England playing?

The first game of the tournament is on Thursday 14th June, 4 pm on ITV between Russia and Saudi Arabia. Don’t miss this and the opening ceremony! All of the matches will be broadcast on either BBC or ITV, here are all the important dates to remember!

England’s group stage fixtures:

Monday, June 18th, 7 pm on BBC — Tunisia v England

Sunday, June 24th, 1 pm on BBC — England v Panama

Thursday, June 28th, 7 pm on ITV — England v Belgium

ROUND of 16

Saturday, June 30th, 7 pm on ITV — 1st place group A v 2nd place group B

Saturday, June 30th, 3 pm on ITV — 1st place group C v 2nd place group D

Sunday, July 1st, 3 pm on BBC — 1st place group B v 2nd place group A

Sunday, July 1st, 7 pm on ITV — 1st place group D v 2nd place group C

Monday, July 2nd, 3 pm on BBC — 1st place group E v 2nd place group F

Monday, July 2nd, 7 pm on BBC — 1st place group G v 2nd place group H

Tuesday, July 3rd, 3 pm on ITV — 1st place group F v 2nd place group E

Tuesday, July 3rd, 7pm on BBC — 1st place group H v 2nd place group G

QUARTERFINALS

Friday, July 6th, 3 pm on BBC — Winner of Match 1 vs Winner of Match 2

Friday, July 6th, 7 pm on BBC — Winner of Match 5 vs Winner of Match 6

Saturday, July 7th, 3 pm on ITV — Winner of Match 7 vs Winner of Match 8

Saturday, July 7th, 7 pm on ITV — Winner of Match 3 vs Winner of Match 4

SEMIFINALS

Tuesday, July 10th, 7 pm on ITV — Winner Quarterfinal 1 vs Winner Quarterfinal 2

Wednesday, July 11th, 7 pm on BBC — Winner Quarterfinal 4 vs Winner Quarterfinal 3

THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF

Saturday, July 14th, 3 pm on ITV — Loser Semifinal 1 vs Loser Semifinal 2

FINAL

Sunday, July 15th, 4 pm on ITV and BBC winner Semifinal 1 vs Winner Semifinal 2