Will England suffer the curse of ITV?
England have won only a third of World Cup games shown on ITV since 1982 – so what does that mean for their chances against Uruguay?
England fans look away now.
Forget about Luis Suarez, the Brazilian heat or the team’s confidence following their opening 2-1 defeat to Italy in the 2014 World Cup.
No, the real thing Roy Hodgson's men have to worry about in tonight’s make-or-break World Cup clash with Uruguay is the fact that it's ITV showing the match...
England teams have won only one third of World Cup group stage and knockout games broadcast by the commercial broadcaster since 1982.
By contrast, Auntie Beeb has proved far more of a lucky charm for the men in white, with England winning 57 per cent of games shown by the public service broadcaster – with just seven losses and three draws in 23 games since 1982.
However, when you analyse ITV’s record in group stage games such as tonight’s, the outcome is likely to be slightly less depressing for the England fan. That 's because, of the ten World Cup group games shown by ITV since 1982, six were in fact draws.
So would a draw be enough to keep England's hopes alive? We've done the very complicated calculations on that right here...
Uruguay v England (Group D) 7pm (k/o 8pm) ITV
