FIFA World Cup 2018: England 2-1 Tunisia - As it happened

Moscow: Harry Kane starts off England’s World Cup campaign with a win. The captain scored a brace off set-pieces with a decisive goal in the stoppage time, as he netted a header past the Tunisian goalkeeper from close. Tunisia nearly drew the match with Ferjani Sassi’s equaliser off a penalty. England were up and attacking throughout the second half and edged past the North African nation 2-1.  

Here are the updates from the match:

England edge past Tunisia, breathe a sigh of relief. 

FULL TIME!!

England 2-1 Tunisia 

90+1 minute: GOAL!!! Kane scores!! Harry Kane scores his second goal to take England 2-1 against Tunisia. 

4 minutes of Stoppage time. 

89 minute: England are all out attacking. Corner for England. 

3 minutes to go. 

86 minute: Free-kick to England. This could dangerous. The defenders clear the ball. 

84 minute: Substitution for Tunisia. Skipper Khazri gets replaced by Khalifa. 

82 minute: Corner for England as Rashford takes a long time to cross the ball in. The Tunisia goalkeeper knuckles the ball away from danger. The goalkeeper is down in pain. 

10 minutes to go!

76 minute: England are up and attacking from the left flank. Free-kick to England. Opportunity knocks for England. 

72 minute: Substitution for Tunisia! Sliti gets replaced by Ben Amor. 

70 minute: That was close! Tunisia goalkeeper plunges onto the ball after a lofted shot from an England player. 

67 minute:  Substitution for England! Rashford replaces Sterling. 

64 minute:  England press hard and force Tunisia to defend. Tunisia hold their line denying England players with any kind of space. 

62 minute: Though England beat Tunisia on quality but credit to Tunisia for their determination and character. 

60 minute: Corner for England. The Tunisian defenders clear the ball to safety. 

57 minute: England are on the attack. Sterling fails to find space to have a shot at the Tunisian goal. 

54 minute: Tunisia look well organised and composed but England could break that with a goal. The World cup has seen heavyweight teams like Argentina and Germany go down to smaller ranked teams, can Tunisia stage an upset?

52 minute:  Tunisia player threatened the England goalkeeper but the Referee calls it off-side.  

50 minute: Corner for England. Tunisia fail to convert up-front, give the possession away. 

47 minute: Free-kick to England. England are not going to stop until they make a breakthrough. Tunisia need to trust themselves and hold their nerve. 

Second-half is underway: 

Tunisia 1-1 England

Half-time!

45+1 minute: Tunisia's Maâloul goes down, does not look comfortable.

3 minutes of Stoppage time!

44 minute:  After conceding the goal England put pressure on Tunisia forcing them to defend deep in their half.

43 minute:  Corner for England. Young whips the ball inside as Trippier hits the ball directly to the keeper.

41 minute:  England's Young and Sterling are threatening up-front. England are up and attacking.  

39 minute: SAVED! Tunisia hold their nerve as England miss a golden opportunity. That was close!

Tunisia 1-1 England!!

34 minute: GOAL!!!  Tunisia scores the first African goal at the 2018 World Cup. F. Sassi keeps his cool as he scores the equaliser on to the bottom left corner.

33 minute: Penalty!! Tunisia have a chance to equalise. Can they make the most of it?

30 minute:  Brilliant shot by England but the ball lands straight into the hands of Tunisian keeper.

29 minute: Free-kick to England at a dangerous position.

27 minute: Tunisia are pushing hard to create space up-front. England relaxes with possession. 

22 minute: Tunisia's Sliti attempts a shot from long-range, clouds the ball away from the England goal.  

21 minute: Tunisia make their first charge into the England box. Corner for Tunisia!

18 minute: SAVED!!! Ben Mustapha stoops to make a great save off Henderson's fiery shot from the edge of the box.  

15 minute: England are all over the Tunisian side. Can they open the North African floodgates? 

12 minute: Tunisia goalkeeper Hassen is down. He gets substituted by Farouk Ben Mustapha. 

England 1-0 Tunisia!

10 minute: Corner! GOAL!!!! Captain Kane opens up the scoreline for England. Kane has scored in all his matches for England as a captain.  

6 minute: Ben Youssef goes down after he tries to steal the ball from England's Young. 

3 minute: What an effort! England striker makes a great run into the Tunisia box but fails to find support. That could have been a goal for England. 

2 minute: Corner for England! Decent start by England as the ball gets cleared by Tunisia defenders. That was close!

Kick-off

Lineups

Tunisia XI: M. Hassen, 12 A. Maâloul,4 Y. Meriah, S. Ben Youssef, D. Bronn, E. Skhiri, F. Sassi, A. Badri, W. Khazri, Ben Youssef, N. Sliti.

England XI: Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire; Trippier, Henderson, Lingard, Alli, Young; Sterling, Kane. 

 

Gareth Southgate's team has shown improvement since England's humiliating defeat by Iceland at Euro 2016 and Maaloul believes the team in Russia is even better than the class of 1998, which included David Beckham and Michael Owen. 

 

Tunisia full squad:

Goalkeepers: Aymen al-Mathlouthi (Al Batin/KSA), Mouez Hassen (Chateauroux/FRA), Farouk Ben Mustapha (Al Shabab/KSA)

Defenders: Nagguez Hamdi(Zamalek/EGY), Dylan Bronn (Gent/BEL), Rami Bedoui (Etoile du Sahel), Yohan Benalouane(Leicester/ENG), Syam Ben Youssef (Kasimpasa/TUR), Yassine Meriah (CS Sfaxien), Oussama Haddadi (Dijon/FRA), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly/EGY)

Midfielders: Ellyes Skhiri (Montpellier/FRA), Mohamed Amine Ben Amore (Al-Ahli/KSA), Ghaylene Chaalali (Esperance), Ferjani Sassi (Al Nassr/KSA), Ahmed Khalil (Club Africain), Saifeddine El Khaoui(Troyes/FRA)

Forwards: Fakheredine Ben Youssef (Al Ettifaq/KSA), Anice Badri (Esperance), Bassem Srarfi (Nice/FRA), Wahbi Khazri (Rennes/FRA), Naim Sliti (Dijon/FRA), Saber Khalifa (Club Africain)

England full squad:

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)

Defenders: Kyle Walker (Manchester City) John Stones (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Manchester United), Phil Jones (Manchester United), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)

Midfielders: Eric Dier (Tottenham), Dele Alli (Tottenham), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Crystal Palace), Fabian Delph (Manchester City)

Forwards: Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) Harry Kane (Tottenham), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)