Looking at how England have fared in their opening games of both the Euros and World Cups since 1990
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England's first game of Euro 2020 kicks off against Croatia, but how have England fared in their opening games of tournament past?
Looking at England's record in both the Euros and World Cups since 1990, some sharp trends start to emerge. Past tournaments show that they're experts at scoring early goals in their opening match, starting fast and catching their opponents unaware.
However, part of this trend also shows that England let themselves down after going a goal, or two, up. In eight tournaments since 1990, they have let three points slip after going a goal up. Poor concentration potentially an issue among the team's players, last minute goals have also drastically affected England winning on two of those occasions.
It is imperative that England get off to a good start, but it's even more important that they maintain a lead they might build. Setting the tone, the first game can make or break a nation's tournament. With England's opening game in front of fans at Wembley, they should revel in the opportunity.
England kicked off their 1990 World Cup campaign with a draw against Republic of Ireland at the since demolished Stadio Sant'Elia in Cagliari.
The team playing in white entered the game as favourites to pick up all three points, which initially seemed likely as Gary Lineker scored early on in the fixture in the ninth minute. However, the men from across the Irish Sea equalised through Kevin Sheedy in the 73rd minute to dent England's hopes of opening the 1990 World Cup with a winning start.
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A draw with the Netherlands then followed this game for England, but they managed to progress to the knockout round after beating Egypt 1-0 in the final group game.
England ended up managing to reach the semi-finals, before crashing out against bitter rivals West Germany 4-3 on penalties - along with Gazza’s infamous tears.
Euro 1992
England 0-0 Denmark
England's opening game of Euro 92 came against eventual the tournament's eventual champions Denmark, with the game ending 0-0 in a drab affair.
The team, containing captain Gary Lineker and a young Alan Shearer, were unable to find the net at the Malmo Stadium in Sweden - setting the precedent for the next game when they also finished goalless against France.
Hosts Sweden then sent England packing with a 2-1 win in the final game of the group stages, leaving them winless having scored only one goal.
1996 World Cup
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England 1-1 Switzerland
After failing to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, England returned to international tournament football as hosts for Euro 96. They played all of their games at Wembley, with the opening of the tournament coming against Switzerland.
Shearer opened the scoring in the first half, but the Swiss rallied back and equalised through a Kubilay Türkyilmaz penalty in the 83rd minute. Scoring early and conceding late soon became a trend for England in their opening games at tournaments, with this game against Switzerland following on from the same match structure as the 1990 World Cup.
Drawn in a group with Switzerland, Scotland and the Netherlands, England kicked off the tournament with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland - though they managed to beat Scotland 2-0 and comfortably win against the Dutch 4-1 to progress to the knockout stage.
They then managed to beat Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals, before another loss against Germany in the semi-finals at Wembley.
1998 World Cup
(Image credit: PA)
England 2-0 Tunisia
Perhaps England's most comfortable tournament opener came in 1998 at the World Cup in France, when they beat Tunisia 2-0 at the Stade Velodrome.
Alan Shearer and Paul Scholes both found the goal without reply from the African side, though the midfielder's did come in stoppage time. Their next match produced a 2-1 loss to Romania, which was followed up by beating Colombia to qualify for the knockout round.
However, another penalty shootout defeat signalled the end of England's tournament against Argentina, in which David Beckham was notoriously sent off.
Euro 2000
Portugal 3-2 England
The opening 20 minutes of this game helped England fans believe that this squad was capable of going all the way at Euro 2000. After going 2-0 up against Portugal in yet another quick start by England thanks to goals from Paul Scholes and Steve McManaman, those hopes and dreams were quickly squashed before half-time though.
Figo halved the deficit before Joao Pinto equalised before half-time. Nuno Gomes then compounded England's fading belief by scoring the winner on the hour-mark to complete the comeback for his nation. This defeat condemned England to a poor start to international tournament football in the new millennium.
Despite managing to beat Germany in the next game, England were knocked out of Euro 2000 by Romania in a 3-2 loss as Phil Neville conceded a penalty in the last minutes of the match.
2002 World Cup
England 1-1 Sweden
A Sol Campbell goal in the first half was cancelled out in the second half by Jens Niclas Alexandersson at the Saitama Stadium in Japan. Once again, England had managed to let their lead slip in their opening game of a tournament, and, unfortunately, this wouldn't be their last.
They managed to follow this draw up with a win against Argentina and a draw against Nigeria to reach the knockout stages, where they comfortably dispatched Denmark 3-0 in the round of 16.
However, Brazil awaited in the quarter finals. That Ronalidinho goal proved decisive in knocking England out in South Korea and Japan.
Euro 2004
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England 1-2 France
Similar to Euro 2000, England took the lead against one of European football's giants at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. A Frank Lampard goal in the 38th minute seemed enough to help England to victory in their opening game, as the score remained 1-0 in the 90th minute.
That was, until, the sublime Zinedine Zidane stepped up to expertly dispatch a free-kick from 20-yards in the 91st minute. If that seemed bad enough, worse was yet to come.
An under hit Steven Gerrard back pass allowed Thierry Henry to latch onto the ball, before crucially winning a penalty from the flailing David James. Zidane stepped up, this time from the penalty spot, and turned the game on its head in a matter of minutes to give France the victory in the dying embers of the match.
While the next two games announced Wayne Rooney onto the international scene as he scored two goals in each win against Croatia and Switzerland, England predictably crashed out in the quarter-finals on penalties to the hosts Portugal.
2006 World Cup
England 1-0 Paraguay
England's first win in eight years in the opening game of an international tournament came against Pararguay at the 2006 World Cup, secured by a Carlos Gamarra own-goal in the third minute. Frankfurt’s Waldstadion hosted the tight affair, in which England’s golden generation were looking to start brightly for their shot at World Cup glory.
A 2-0 win against Trinidad and Tobago was followed by a 2-2 draw with Sweden in the groups, and a 1-0 win against Ecuador in the round of 16. ]
However, old foes presented themselves again in the quarter-finals. The same opponents that knocked England out in the 2004 Euros on penalties offered the same fate, with Portugal advancing 3-1 on spot kicks.
2010 World Cup
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England 1-1 USA
A Steven Gerrard goal which half the country managed to miss, thanks to ITV, opened the scoring in South Africa during England's game against the USA. An early goal (again), came in the third minute of the match. With England favourites to comfortably sail past the USA, this seemed like the perfect start.
However, Rob Green suffered a disastrous mistake by fumbling a tame Clint Dempsey shot into his goal during the first half, in which England were unable to recover from.
They then drew goalless against Algeria, before a Jermain Defoe goal against Slovenia sent them to the last 16. Controversy ensued as Germany beat England 4-1, with Frank Lampard suffering from the lack of goal line technology, which would’ve brought the scores level at 2-2.
Euro 2012
England 1-1 France
A Joleon Lescott goal against France saw England characteristically take the lead in the first half of their opening game in a tournament. Also characteristically though, saw an equaliser fairly swiftly after.
Lescott's Manchester City teammate Samir Nasri levelled at the Donbass Arena in Ukraine - the affair eventually ended 1-1.
Both sides progressed to the knockout stage in a group that also contained Ukraine and Sweden, though England lost to Italy in the quarter-finals on penalties.
2014 World Cup
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England 1-2 Italy
The opening minutes of the game against Italy sent England's supporters around the nation delirious for a split second, after Raheem Sterling struck a 30-yard screamer that undoubtedly seemed in. Heartbreakingly though, it was all an illusion. The then Liverpool forward had just hit the side netting, rather than the back of the net on the right side of the goal.
From that point onwards, Italy capitalised. Claudio Marchisio scored from outside the area in the 35th minute, but a sharp counter attack just minutes later saw England claw one back through Daniel Sturridge.
Mario Balotelli stepped up in the second half in Manaus though to win the game for Italy, while England failed to make it out of the group after losing to Uruguay and drawing to Costa Rica.
Euro 2016
England 1-1 Russia
Another tournament, another opening game in which England squander a lead.
Worse yet, another squandered lead in the dying minutes of the match.
Playing at the same stadium where England beat Tunisia 18 years ago, their opening game of Euro 2016 came against Russia. Eric Dier, an unlikely source of a goal, an even unlikelier source of a goal from a free-kick, struck a piledriver into the top corner from twenty yards out.
As England attempted to close the game out, Russia had other ideas. They equalised in the 92nd minute through Vasili Berezutski, continuing the home nation's dismal record in opening games at tournaments.
Their confidence looked dented, and despite producing a late comeback of their own against Wales, they only managed a goalless draw against Slovakia before minnows Iceland knocked them out in the last 16.
2018 World Cup
(Image credit: PA)
England 2-1 Tunisia
England faced their tournament opening opponents from 20-years previous in Tunisia at the 2018 World Cup, and if it wasn’t for a late Harry Kane header, the score line would’ve favoured Tunisia more here. With Kane opening the scoring early on, a Ferjani Sassi penalty levelled from the penalty spot going into half-time.
Kane, thankfully, stepped up, to win the game at a time when England had been undone so many times in the past. Finally, a last minute goal of our own.
The team carried this momentum forwards, beating Panama, Colombia and Sweden on the way to the quarter finals. Though they lost to Croatia, the 2018 World Cup was England’s best performance in a tournament since the 1996 Euros, and their best World Cup showing since 1990.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
