Going into this World Cup, few people had any big expectations for this England team, but after the first two weeks of the tournament, that has dramatically changed. Now, people are talking about England being potential winners of the tournament, or at least finalists after the way the draw has developed and helped them. There is more talk than ever about this young team, and they take to the field against Colombia tonight looking to win their first of three games required to make it to the final.

Much was said about Gareth Southgate’s decision to rest key players in the final group game against Belgium, some wanted him to play a strong team to win and keep momentum, while others wanted England to lose and get an easier draw. The second is what happened, and while Southgate didn’t intentionally go out to lose that game of football, it is a loss that has really worked in his favour.

While England are going to have a very tough game in the final whoever they play, the path to World Cup glory is as easy as it could get for England. They still play so good teams of course, but the way the draw has worked out means that they miss all of the big guns in the tournament.

There is a possibility that England can go to the World Cup final by beating the following teams:

Tunisia, Panama, Colombia, Switzerland and Russia.

There is not one quality team on that list, the only other alternatives are replacing Switzerland with Sweden and Russia with Croatia, but even with those two changes the path is still a lot easier than you would expect to see for a World Cup tournament.

England not the Only Team Chasing World Cup Glory

While England have landed in the easy side of the group, so have many other teams and they will all be focusing on making the World Cup final, just like England are.

England, Colombia, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia and Croatia.

One of those six teams will make the World Cup final, and those six will be narrowed down to four after the two games we have today. Just like England are getting excited about the prospect of what lies ahead for them, so is everyone else.

The other teams in the hunt are all in the same position, they were not expected to get to the final of the World Cup, but after a very favourable draw, their prospects have certainly increased just like England’s have. They too will be sitting their looking at the draw and thinking they can do it, as will their fans back home in their respective countries.

After many surprises and shocks so far at this World Cup, we are about to see another when one of these teams makes the World Cup final. None of the teams invovled were expected to make it all the way, but right now they all have a fantastic chance of doing exactly that, much to the delight of their fans watching on.

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