Will this finally be England’s year? As the answer is almost certainly no, everyone’s minds then shift to just how far England will go.

According to the FIFA World Rankings, England are in the toughest group, placing us, Italy and Uruguay in the Top 10. So, it seems like an uphill battle from the start, but I hope that will spur on ‘Roy’s Boys’ to give their all and pull off some great performances.

With that in mind, can England even get out of the group? It will certainly be hard, especially in the tropical conditions they face out there in Brazil.

The first game, versus Italy on Saturday June 14^th, will be key to whether England progress or not. Normally, the first group stage game is not so important, but Italy are England’s direct rivals for top spot of Group D, so Gerrard and co. will have to give everything they’ve got.

As long as they do not lose a Last 16 spot is virtually assured. Italy aren’t too dangerous. Their defence and goalkeeper are rock-solid, and obviously they have Pirlo, but England can cause them problems, so it will be possible to get a good result.

However, I don’t like to say that England should play for a draw, but, in this case, the first game should be played safe, very safe. A 0-0 or 1-1 would be perfect, and this would set England up perfectly for the next two games.

Next, it’s a tough test against Uruguay, especially because they will be used to the heat and the playing conditions in South America, so that will definitely give them the upper hand.

However, they don’t have the strongest of squads, with weak areas in some parts of the pitch. Aside from Diego Godin, the rock at the heart of Atletico’s title-winning defence, their back line is pretty average, consisting of Martin Caceres, Maxi Pereira and Diego Lugano.

Caceres doesn’t get a game for Juventus, and he will be playing as a full-back, instead of his normal centre back position. Pereira is decent, and starts for Benfica, but has a terrible temper, and Lugano was part of a West Brom side that just staved off relegation.

The midfield is ‘okay’, but it’s upfront where the magic happens. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani, with Diego Forlan on the bench! England should win, but a draw wouldn’t be the end of the world, as long as we beat Costa Rica.

Okay, so by now, England could be out, but with two draws against Italy and Uruguay and a win against Costa Rica everything should be just peachy.

Theoretically, this should be, and needs to be, an easy win. Not just to get us through the group stages, but to boost England’s morale ahead of the knockouts. Joel Campbell is a good player, as proved by his performance for Olympiacos against Man. United, but Cahill and Jagielka should be able to snuff him out without too much difficulty.

Overall, depending on where England finish in the group, we will probably face either Colombia or the Ivory Coast in the Last 16.

Both those games are ‘winnable’, so England are probably looking at a quarter-final exit to either Brazil or Spain. Well, at least we qualified.