This group needs no introduction- England, Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica.

Will Suarez play? Will Costa Rica do to England what they did to Scotland, will Rooney keep his temper in track, discuss it all here

Group D Fixtures:

SATURDAY 14TH JUNE
Uruguay v Costa Rica
20:00 - ITV

England v Italy
23:00 - BBC ONE

THURSDAY 19TH JUNE
Uruguay v England
20:00 - ITV

FRIDAY 20TH JUNE
Italy v Costa Rica
17:00 - BBC ONE

TUESDAY 24TH JUNE
Costa Rica v England
Italy v Uruguay
17:00 - ITV

This is much better than having individual match threads.

I'll be hoping for a goalless draw between Uruguay and Costa Rica to kick things off. I think it'll take something special for us to beat Italy but a draw wouldn't be a bad result in that case.

Somehow I think that the presence of group threads won't stop match discussion threads being started .

It's not just home bias that leads me to think this is one of the trickiest to predict. Nevertheless, I'll put my neutral hat on and try and come to a decision.

Uruguay - regardless of Suarez, they should almost certainly win the group. They have a wealth of great players to draw upon and can be very aggressive, especially against a naive team like England. However Italy's excellent defense will probably prove a great challenge for them and I think Italy will secure a draw. Other than that, I think two victories are likely.

England - well what can I say? Don't believe the hype, as always. We are currently an unremarkable team and stand little change against a ferocious Uruguay. However, with the right attitude and by learning how to hold on to a lead, we can beat Italy. We definitely should beat Costa Rica, and therefore I will tentatively suggest we can come second in the group. Fingers crossed!

Italy - these are a team that deserve respect but not fear. It will be hard to beat them but again, with the right play from other teams, Italy will also have a tough job winning games against us and Uruguay. I think a 0-0 draw with Uruguay is likely and a narrow loss to England is possible. This unfortunately means that Italy would go home with 4 points. Will this actually happen? Who knows, but that's a group of death for you.

Costa Rica - sadly, there is always a fall guy in a group such as this and all teams will inevitably go all-out on Costa Rica for an achievable three points. Looking at Costa Rica, I don't think they can prevent this. A draw with us and Italy is possible, but that would be a serious disappointment for both teams. I'm afraid I expect three losses.

Predictions:
Uruguay - 7 (drawing with Italy)
England - 6 (losing to Uruguay)
Italy - 4 (beating Costa Rica, drawing with Uruguay)
Costa Rica - 0

You're right. There have been reports saying this group is actually the hardest to call because the teams are closest together in turns of FIFA rankings. Uruguay are 7th, Italy 9th and England 10th!

It could go any way but I'm being optimistic and saying England will go through at Italy's expense.

And of course it's never as simple as FIFA ranking anyway - hence my prediction that Italy will draw with Uruguay but be beaten by us! It's a really complicated group full of 4 very different teams. If I wasn't English I'd be highly excited for it. I still am, but I'm more filled with dread over how unpredictable our chance are...

Italy are a weird team. They are either phenomenal or terrible and they are never great in the group stages. I think it will be very tough for them, although I'm hoping that both Italy and England go through at Uruguay's expense

Am I the only person wondering what Costa Rica did to Scotland?

Edit: seems it's about their win against them 24 years ago.

If I remember correctly, in the last World Cup they finished bottom of their group – below even New Zealand! A repeat of that would be nice.

FIFA rankings

http://touch.fifa.com/worldranking/r...ble/index.html

26 Ecuador
28 Costa Rica
33 Honduras

No one can argue with that logic.

They also won the World Cup in 2006 and were runners up in 2012

That's a rather simplistic view of things. A friendly versus a World Cup tie is not a fair comparison. Not to mention that we spent half the match avoiding injuries due to Honduras' dirty play. That isn't the case with Costa Rica and we will have the motivation to push for a win.

Italy also came third in the Confederations Cup, so I wouldn't discount them completely. Uruguay may be the surprise of this tournament if it fails in the group stages.

I have Italy in the sweepstake so there will be a little part of me wanting them to do well. (If/when England go out of course)

Italy may get out of the group but won't reach the final.

History predicts they'll lose the 2018 final.

Do you mean that a European team has never won in South America? It could change (although unlikely). A European team won in Africa.

Englad to lose against Italy and Uruguay and beat Costa Rica.

Uruguay to win the group after beating Italy in the last group game.

I really hope Uruguay don't perform as well as everyone expects. They are unlikable for some reason.

Gus Poyet is ok.

I bet Suarez doesn't play against Costa Rica, then plays against England

Uruguay v Costa Rica

Can't see anything other than a Uruguay win here, but I think it will be the only points that Uruguay pick up.

England v Italy

This has draw written all over it. In the last 4 world cups Italy have won once and drew 3 times in their opening fixture, England fare slightly better with 2 wins & 2 draws. none of the 5 draws were goalless so I'm going for 1-1.

Uruguay v England
Italy v Costa Rica

Wins for both England & Italy. Uruguay will be relying on an injured/not fully fit Suarez and an aging Forlan.

Costa Rica are just not good enough. They didn't make the last world cup and lost all 3 fixtures in Germany 8 years ago.


Cost Rica v England
Italy v Uruguay

Once again wins for Italy & England for the same reasons as above.

As England get their (on paper) easiest game last, I would have them as top of the group but it really could go either way.

Uruguay are more than just Suarez and Forlan to be fair. Cavani for example has scored goals against Brazil, Italy, Columbia and Argentina amongst others in the past year.

No I'm simply going by the pattern below:

1970: Final
1982: Winners
1994: Final
2006: Winners.