Tuchel's 3 Lions go under cover for World Cup opener... then heat is on

ENGLAND head coach Thomas Tuchel described his team’s World Cup group draw as difficult.

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Thomas Tuchel's England face a tricky World Cup opener against Croatia on June 17

The opening match against Croatia (ranked tenth in the world) should be the trickiest but not Ghana (72nd) or Panama (30th).

Croatia beat England 2-1 after extra time in the 2018 World Cup semifinal and this will be their star 40-year-old Luka Modric’s final World Cup. This time, expect England to win but it will be the key match in Group L.

England-Croatia is on June 17 in Dallas at the home of NFL team Dallas Cowboys (9pm UK time, 3pm in Texas).

However, the game will be played in an air-conditioned stadium with the roof closed, unlike the second match on June 23 against Ghana in Boston with the same timing here but 4pm there.

The third game versus Panama will be on June 27 at 10pm UK time (5pm USA) and will be in the Met-Life Stadium in New Jersey where again there is no roof. The temperatures in the USA will be hot!

If England win Group L they will play a third place team in Atlanta, Georgia, on July 1.

The game would kick off at 5pm UK and noon there but is a roof at that venue!

I was in the USA for the 1994 World Cup and the heat is an important factor.