England face the easiest Group possible. They could hardly have picked their Group C opponents better themselves. Opponents in their Group are made up of three minnows of the football world: United States, Algeria and Slovenia.
But just before England get too cocky, or has the horse bolted on that one, remember how minnow after minnow has slapped England in the face time and time again. However England's history of failure is being forgotten in the World Cup Group betting, which is generally as follows: 2/5 England, 100/30 USA, 15/2 Slovenia, 16/1 Algeria.
Because of this easy start to the final stage of the competition, England shortened in the betting to win the World Cup outright and are now a rather skinny 5/1. Interestingly a clash with arch-rivals Germany, once they are in the knockout stages, looks a mathematical probability.
England play their Group matches in the city of Cape Town. All the World Cup Group line-ups are as follows:
Group A: Mexico, Uruguay, France, South Africa.
Group B: Nigeria, South Korea, Argentina, Greece.
Group C: United States, Algeria, England, Slovenia.
Group D: Australia, Serbia, Germany, Ghana.
Group E: Denmark, Japan, Netherlands, Cameroon.
Group F: Paraguay, New Zealand, Italy, Slovakia.
Group G: North Korea, Ivory Coast, Brazil, Portugal.
Group H: Switzerland, Honduras, Spain, Chile.