England will be hoping to finally end more than half a century of World Cup heartache by bringing home football’s most sought-after trophy from Qatar.
But the Three Lions face a tough route to the final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha in December.
Gareth Southgate’s side have already taken their first step on the road to international football’s biggest game, having won Group B to land a place in the round of 16.
But, depending on the way results fall, tricky ties against the likes of France, Portugal and Brazil potentially await them.
Here Sky News maps out the route that England could face on the road to the World Cup final.
Image: Depending on the way results fall, tricky ties against the likes of France, Portugal and Brazil potentially await England
Round of 16
One thing we do know for sure is England’s round of 16 opponents.
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As winners of Group B, England now face the runners-up of Group A, Senegal, at the Al Bayt stadium at 7pm this Sunday.
The two sides have never met on the football field in their history.
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But it promises to be an exciting encounter with the African side, who are ranked 18th in the FIFA World Rankings and have a host of star names including Chelsea stars Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy and Everton midfielder Idrissa Gueye.
Image: England face Senegal in the World Cup round of 16 after the Three Lions won Group B and Senegal finished runners-up in Group A
Senegal will, however, be without star forward Sadio Mane.
The Bayern Munich and ex-Liverpool star was ruled out of the World Cup earlier this month after undergoing surgery on a knee injury.
Quarter-finals
If England beat Senegal they will go into the quarter-finals in what will be game 59 of the tournament.
Just like the round of 16, the game will be played at the Al Bayt stadium, at 7pm on Saturday 10 December.
This is where it gets a bit trickier, but England’s most likely opponents at this stage will be France.
Les Bleus look set to top Group D after winning both their opening games ahead of their final group game against Tunisia on Wednesday.
Their round of 16 opponents will be the runners-up of Group C – which is still very much up in the air at this moment.
Image: Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring France’s second goal against Denmark
Poland currently top the group with four points, with Argentina in second on goal difference ahead of Saudi Arabia – who beat the South American side in their opening match.
Argentina face Poland in their final game and although La Albiceleste will be the favourites, they are in for a difficult match.
And even a draw might not be enough for Argentina if either Mexico or Saudi Arabia claim victory in their last game.
While Argentina will be France’s toughest opponents if they finish second in the group, Didier Deschamps’s side will be favourites to win and clinch a quarter-final tie against England.
A game between England and France will be the first World Cup match between the two sides in 40 years.
The last game, at the 1982 World Cup, ended 3-1 to England.
Before that was England’s 2-0 victory in 1966 on the road to the Three Lions’ only World Cup win.
Semi-finals
Again, another tricky prediction given much is still in the balance in the group stages, and England will have to beat one of the tournament’s favourites to get to this stage.
One thing is for certain, if England can make it to the semi-final, they will return to the Al Bayt stadium for a third time for game 62, which will be played at 7pm on Wednesday 14 December.
At the moment, England’s likely semi-final opponents will be Portugal.
Image: England could face Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal side in the semi-final
Against the odds, Morocco looks likely to clinch the top spot in Group F. They sit second behind Croatia on goal difference with bottom side Canada left to play.
Croatia faces a stuttering Belgium side, with the winner of that game clinching the other spot.
Presuming it is Morocco, they face a potential clash with Germany in the round of 16, who, while currently bottom of Group E, face a final group game against Costa Rica needing a win and for in-form Spain to beat Japan.
Despite Germany’s less-than-impressive start to the tournament, Hansi Flick’s side will be favourites to overcome Morocco.
Meanwhile, Portugal look set to storm Group H and set up a round of 16 tie with the runner-up of Group G – which looks likely to be Switzerland.
Presuming Portugal wins that quarter-final tie, they could set up a semi-final against England.
Such a tie would be a chance for redemption for England, who suffered two dramatic penalty shoot-out defeats to Portugal in the 2000s.
The Three Lions were beaten 6-5 on penalties in the Euro 2004 quarter-finals after a 2-2 draw.
Portugal then dumped England out of the World Cup at the same stage in 2006, winning 3-1 on penalties after a tense 0-0 draw.
Final
There’s a long route to the final, with plenty of twists and turns still to come.
But if England can overcome Senegal, France and Portugal, they could face tournament favourites Brazil in the final at the Lusail Stadium in Doha.
The game is set to take place on Sunday 18 December at 3pm.
While it is by no means certain that they will face the five-time World Cup winners in the final, Tite’s side looks like strong favourites to be in the mix.
Image: England could face tournament favourites Brazil in the final of this year’s World Cup
At is it currently stands, Brazil will likely face Ghana in the round of 16, followed by a strong Spain side in the quarter-finals.
The semi-finals are, again, a bit trickier to predict, but the Netherlands look the mostly likely to be there with them, but only if they can beat their likely opponents of USA and Denmark in the round of 16 and quarter-finals.
Should Brazil’s impressive firepower, with an attacking line-up containing the likes of Neymar, Vinicius, Raphinha and Richarlison, see them through, a potential final clash with England awaits.
England fans will no doubt remember the heartbreak of the 2002 quarter-final defeat in Japan.
The Three Lions took an early lead through Michael Owen but were pegged back through Rivaldo, before Ronaldinho scored a spectacular long-range free-kick to beat David Seaman and dump England out.
That match was one which saw two golden generations go head-to-head.
And while Brazil will be favourites with their squad of superstars, England’s emerging talents will be no doubt hopeful of pulling off an upset should they face the South American side in the semi-final.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating after an incident involving a crossbow and a firearm left two women injured in Leeds.
Police were called to Otley Road at 2.47pm on Saturday to reports of a “serious incident involving a man seen with weapons”, West Yorkshire Police said.
Officers arrived at the scene to find two women injured – and a 38-year-old man with a self-inflicted injury. All three were taken to hospital, with the man held under arrest, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“Two weapons have been recovered from the scene, which were a crossbow and a firearm,” Counter Terrorism Policing North East said in a statement.
The incident happened on the ‘Otley Run’ pub crawl, with one venue saying it was closed for the evening due to “unforeseen circumstances”.
Image: Officers guard one of the crime scenes
Image: Officers inside the cordon in Leeds
Counter Terrorism Policing’s statement added: “Due to the circumstances surrounding the incident, Counter Terrorism Policing North East have taken responsibility for leading the investigation with the support of West Yorkshire Police.
“Extensive enquiries continue to establish the full circumstances and explore any potential motivation.”
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as a “serious violent incident” and said she was being kept updated by police.
“Thank you to the police and emergency services for their swift response,” she said. “My thoughts are with the victims and all those affected by this attack.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Wrexham AFC have been promoted for the third season in a row.
The North Wales-based side has gone from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons, under its Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Wrexham were second in the table and had a run of eight games unbeaten ahead of their match against Charlton Athletic on Saturday, which they won 3-0.
Image: Wrexham’s James McClean lifts the League One trophy. Pic: PA
Image: Wrexham’s Dan Scarr celebrates with the fans on the pitch after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
It is the first time any club has been promoted for three consecutive seasons within the top five tiers of English football.
The third oldest association football club in the world, Wrexham AFC was bought by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2020, and has since been the subject of a Disney+ documentary, Welcome To Wrexham.
Reynolds, wearing a Wrexham sweatshirt, and McElhenney were pictured celebrating each goal, and after the game, as the fans came onto the pitch at the SToK Cae Ras (Racecourse Ground) to celebrate the victory with the players.
Image: Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney (L) and Ryan Reynolds and Ryan’s wife Blake Lively, before the match. Pic: PA
Both stars came onto the pitch after the supporters returned to the stands.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, McElhenney praised those behind the scenes, referring to “so many that don’t get the credit they deserve, people who aren’t talked about”.
Reynolds said bringing success back to the club “seemed like an impossible dream” when they arrived in North Wales in 2020.
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Image: Wrexham’s Sam Smith celebrates in front of the fans after Wrexham won promotion to the Championship. Pic: PA
He put the three promotions down to “the coaching staff, the greatest dressing room” and an “all for one, one for all” attitude throughout the club, adding he was “speechless with their commitment and their emotion”.
As for the mouth-watering prospect of another promotion to the promised land of the Premier League, the pair agreed it was “for tomorrow”, before ending the interview with a joint mic-drop.
Veteran striker Steven Fletcher said, “as soon as I came to this club, I knew it was something special. We want to go again. We’ll reset in the summer, take a break and go again”.
Just Stop Oil (JSO) insists it’s been “successful” – as its members ceremoniously hang up their orange high-vis vests during a march in central London.
Since the group formed three years ago, it’s drawn attention and criticism for its colourful, controversial protests, which ranged from disrupting sporting events to throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and climbing on gantries over the M25. It sprayed orange paint over Stonehenge, and cost police forces tens of millions of pounds.
Those days are now behind it; to the relief of many.
As a few hundred activists marched through London on Saturday, blocking roads as they went; taxi drivers blared their horns and football fans shouted abuse from the pavement.
The PA News Agency filmed the moment a white minivan seemed to drive towards a group of protesters blocking the road.
Protesters shouted “I’m being pushed back!” to police, while the driver could be heard shouting “What about my right to get home?” to the officers gathered.
But JSO never set out to be popular. And it believes its tactics – though hated – have been successful; thanks to the new Labour government’s commitment to not issue new oil or gas exploration licences.
That’s why, it says, its ceasing direct action.
Image: JSO hangs up its high-vis jackets in central London on Saturday
Image: A washing line of high-vis jackets signifies JSO’s disbanding
“This moment marks the success of the JSO campaign – our demand was to end new oil and gas licences and that is now government policy.
“As a result of which four billion barrels of oil are being kept under the North Sea. The campaign has reached a natural end.”
Dr Oscar Berglund, senior lecturer in international public and social policy, disagrees that JSO is disappearing because it’s been “successful”.
He told Sky News policing strength and public perception might have more to do with it.
“They have very low levels of popularity. About 17% of the British population are kind of broadly supportive of what Just Stop Oil do. And that’s too low to recruit.
“It’s difficult to recruit members to something that is that unpopular, and then that a lot of people for good reason I think have kind of stopped believing in that kind of disruption as a means to achieve meaningful change.”
Group triggers specific new protest laws
One thing it did change is the law.
Policing commentator Graham Wettone tells us: “Obstruction of the highway, obstruction of rail networks for example, these are specific offences now.
“It’s given the police more tactics, more methods, more offences they can consider, even stopping and searching somebody who may have something to either lock themselves on or glue themselves to something.”
Image: A JSO activist holds a picture of an imprisoned colleague
Emma Smart was held in prison for her activism with both Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil.
“The high-vis might be going away,” she tells me, “but we aren’t.”
“These people aren’t going anywhere, we are still committed, dedicated, terrified by the failings of this government and governments around the world.”
Image: JSO activists throw orange paint at van Gogh’s sunflowers
Image: Orange smoke set off by JSO protesters at Stonehenge
She hopes for a time of reflection before it returns in a new form but says the need for climate activism is stronger than ever.
She also believes that while most people dislike JSO tactics, it still raises awareness of the cause and might even push people to more moderate campaign groups.
Just Stop Oil came behind other, similarly controversial climate campaign groups like Insulate Britain and Extinction Rebellion, and as it says goodbye, its disruptive methods have been seized upon by other organisations like the Pro-Palestinian Youth Justice.
The infamous Just Stop Oil orange vests might be going away, but the individual activists, their cause and campaign tactics feel here to stay.