6. Three at the back does work

After starting with a 4-3-3 formation to commence their World Cup qualifying campaign, Belgium’s Argentinian coach Roberto Martinez switched to a 3-4-2-1 and found great success. The change in formation has ironed out their perceived weakness in defence and with Vincent Kompany, Toby Alderweireld and Vertonghen all playing in a three-man defence for their clubs, Belgium looks a danger. Especially when combined with their impressive attacking qualities.

Tactical switch for danger team Belgium

7. Three times the charm

Alongside Frenchman Henri Michel, Panama boss Hernan Dario Gomez is the only coach to have qualified three different teams to a World Cup. Gomez led Colombia to the 1998 finals and took Ecuador to South Korea and Japan four years later. At each World Cup he guided his teams to one win - Panama will be hoping he can at least repeat the feat.

8. It’s deja vu all over again

England has faced Tunisia at a World Cup before when the two teams were in the same group at the 1998 World Cup in France. When the Three Lions faced Tunisia in their Group G fixture, they won 2-0 thanks to goals by Paul Scholes and Alan Shearer. But Tunisia will take heart that the first time they met, in 1990, they came away with a 0-0 draw - albeit it was an international friendly that took place at home.

9. Let’s keep it local

During their World Cup qualifying campaign, England coach Gareth Southgate only used players that had played in the domestic competition. The only other country who selected players exclusively from its local league was Saudi Arabia.

Faith in youth: England's Raheem Sterling (L) and Marcus Rashford (R) at training

10. The oldest and the youngest… almost

Out of the 32 teams who will be competing in Russia, Panama possessed the oldest squad during World Cup qualifying with an average age of 29.4. In-fact La Marea Roja has 11 players in their squad that are over 30 years old. Meanwhile, with Manchester duo Marcus Rashford (20) and Raheem Sterling and Tottenham's Dele Ali England’s average age during qualifying was 25.9, making them the third-youngest  team behind Germany and Nigeria.