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Gareth Southgate urges England to enjoy "festival of football" at 2018 World Cup

Southgate: 'World Cup is a festival'
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Gareth Southgate wants his England players to soak in the "carnival" atmosphere at the 2018 World Cup and see the tournament in Russia as a "festival of football".

Gareth Southgate has urged England's players to soak in the "carnival" atmosphere at the World Cup and see the tournament as a "festival of football".

The Three Lions are preparing for their first game at the competition, Monday night's Group G encounter against Tunisia in Volgograd.

Expectations for England are relatively low in Russia given a decade of disappointing results at tournament level as well as Southgate's selection of a young team.

However, the former Middlesbrough manager is eager to remove the kind of pressure which has plagued past England teams and stressed the importance of making the most of the occasion.

"When I have been at World Cups before, whether working with the media or following the games scouting, there is a kind of carnival of football out there that sometimes as a player you don't access and don't feel part of," Southgate told BBC Sport.

"We have got to feel that it is a festival of football that you are fully involved in, and look to play as well as we can.

"I think having watched the Spain-Portugal game, these are the sort of games that announce the tournament is under way. The players enjoyed watching it and it brought energy to our hotel."

After the Tunisia clash, England will go on to face Panama and Belgium in their other Group G ties.

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England manager Gareth Southgate on June 2, 2018
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Friday, July 5
 
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Spain
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Portugal
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France
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Tables header RHS

Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Germany Germany32107
Q Switzerland Switzerland31205
3 Hungary Hungary31023
4 Scotland flag Scotland30121

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain33009
Q Italy Italy31114
3 Croatia Croatia30212
4 Albania national flag Albania30121

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England31205
Q Denmark Denmark30303
Q Slovenia Slovenia30303
4 Serbia Serbia30212

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Austria Austria32016
Q France France31205
Q Netherlands Netherlands31114
4 Poland Poland30121

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania31114
Q Belgium Belgium31114
Q Slovakia Slovakia31114
4 Ukraine Ukraine31114

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal32016
Q Turkey Turkey32016
Q Georgia Georgia31114
4 Czech Republic Czech Republic30121


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