England are transformed from team that flopped at the Euros, says Tunisia boss Nabil Maaloul

Tunisia coach Nabil Maaloul was in prime place to witness England’s last tournament failure.

“I was at the stadium,” he said of England’s defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016. “I was there, watching and analysing the matches.”

The 55-year-old, in charge of Kuwait at the time but working as a television pundit, was among the ranks of stunned onlookers as England somehow froze in the warm climes of a summer evening in Nice.

Gareth Southgate has assembled a squad to engender fresh hope — and while that Iceland match may still linger in the memory of those involved, Maaloul does not believe it will be relevant.

“I can say, frankly, that I have not really focused on analysing the Iceland versus England performance during that match,” he said. “I think that more than 70 per cent of the players have changed since then.

“There is a new team that we are seeing in England. The current English team is much stronger than in 2016, so it won’t be the same thing.”

Unless Southgate pulls a late surprise, as few as four players are likely to survive from the starting line-up on that disastrous night two years ago to kick off England’s World Cup bid here in Volgograd: Kyle Walker, Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling.

Maaloul singled out Alli as the biggest danger, neatly reframing a question about the Tottenham midfielder’s temperament being a potential vulnerability to target.

“You’ve given me a good idea,” he said. “I hadn’t thought about that! [Dele is] a very good player, an excellent player. This is the future of the England national team. He can play anywhere: midfielder in the middle, second forward, behind the forward, out on the left. He’s so important.

“For us, it’s very important we close him down because we know the partnership between him and Kane, because they play together all season at Spurs. If we manage to break that association, that would be a huge advantage.”

England cannot claim a monopoly on scrutiny, however. This is Tunisia’s first World Cup since 2006 and expectations have been heightened by draws in friendlies against Portugal and Turkey before a narrow defeat to Spain since the end of May.

Southgate and his players have sought to distance themselves from the biennial discussion of the fear that has affected their predecessors, but Maaloul did not even pretend to shirk the reality Tunisia face.

“There is enormous pressure on our shoulders,” he said of his team, who are ranked 21st in the world by FIFA, within touching distance of England who are tied with Denmark in 12th.

“We do represent Africa, the Arabic world and 12 million Tunisians. We do feel it. I’m trying to ease this pressure from the shoulders of the players. England, too, because they’re one of the favourites in the group and to win the World Cup. We do feel it. This match is a key game to open the path to the second stage.”

Handling it well is the order of the day for both.