The road to Brazil is almost complete for England as Roy Hodgson’s side make their final preparations ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in three key warm-up matches, all exclusively live on ITV.
In total, 30 friendlies featuring nations competing at the World Cup will be broadcast live across various UK networks over the fortnight prior to kick-off in Sao Paulo on June 12, as excitement builds to the carnival of football at the country many consider to be the spiritual home of the sport.
England will play three warm-up matches ahead of the World Cup against Peru at Wembley, followed by a stateside trip to Miami to play Ecuador and Honduras – all three matches will be broadcast exclusively live on ITV.
The fact that England have been drawn in a tough qualifying group and will be up against Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica, means that for once the team will be heading for Brazil with little expectation of success.
Hodgson will want to try out various options and there could be a few surprise selections, but there are bound to be a number of substitutions and no players will want to risk injury which could rule them out of the tournament.
Players like Ross Barkley, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Luke Shaw are likely to be given the opportunity in the three warm-ups to stake their place in the starting XI and will be keen to impress against opposition hand-picked to give players experience against South American teams.
The game against Peru will be vital for Hodgson as he will have to finalise his 23-man squad from the previous 30 a couple days later.
It’s the first time England have played Peru since 1962, when a hat-trick from Jimmy Greaves helped the Three Lions to a 4-0 victory in Lima, and the first time the Peruvians will have played on English soil.
Peru are coached by Uruguayan Pablo Bengoechea and consist mainly of home-based players.
They have not got big names such as Teofilo Cubillas and Hugo Sotil, who helped the team qualify for three World Cups in the 1970s
and won the Copa America in 1975, but any South American team are bound to produce difficult opposition for England.
Former Chelsea and current Bayern Munich striker Claudio Pizzaro, Schalke forward Jefferson Farfan and Corinthians dangerman Paolo Guerrero could be among those hoping to spoil England’s pre-World Cup party.
After their Wembley send-off, England then break their trip to the World Cup finals in Brazil with a stop in Miami, where they can accustom themselves to the sort of temperatures they can expect during the tournament.
Roy Hodgson’s boys warm up with two games against Latin American opposition under the searing Florida sun, the first against Ecuador on Wednesday, June 4, at the home of the Miami Dolphins, the Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens.
Having by now whittled his squad down to 23 players, with seven on the stand-by list, Hodgson now has the task of crafting them into a world-beating unit before their first competitive match in Brazil.
It’s the first time England have played Ecuador since the 2006 World Cup, when a David Beckham goal led Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men to victory in the second round in Stuttgart, setting up a quarter final against Portugal.
Captained by Manchester United’s Antonio Valencia, Ecuador should prove worthy opponents, having qualified for the World Cup Finals from the always highly competitive CONMEBOL group of South American teams.
Although they currently sit 28th in the FIFA rankings, 17 places lower than England, they finished fourth in the nine-team group above Uruguay, who England will face in the group stage.
England finally complete their World Cup preparations against Honduras at the same venue in Miami on Saturday, June 7, before kicking off their 2014 World Cup campaign against Italy in Manaus on June 14.
The only place to see all of England’s World Cup warm-up matches will be on ITV with Adrian Chiles hosting its live coverage alongside pundits Glenn Hoddle and Lee Dixon, with commentary from Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend.
Joining the ITV in the studio at Wembley for the Peru clash will be England midfielder Theo Walcott, while Ian Wright joins the presenting team at pitchside in Miami for the Ecuador and Honduras matches.
ITV’s coverage is available to watch in high-definition on ITV HD and live streaming online via itv.com/football.
Further news, match updates, reports and video clips from can also be found online via the ITV football website and on Twitter via @itvfootball.
Elsewhere, another 27 matches featuring competing World Cup nations will be broadcast live across various networks, including the BBC, BT Sport, Premier Sports, Sky Sports and MUTV.
BT Sport will screen both of Brazil’s World Cup warm-up matches live against Panama and Serbia, plus internationals featuring Germany, Belgium, France and the United States.
Premier Sports also has a selection of live pre-World Cup friendlies, with many being broadcast free-t0-view. The channel will be screening exclusive UK TV coverage of Italy and Portugal’s matches against the Republic of Ireland on May 31 and June 10 respectively.
In addition, summer friendly internationals featuring Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be broadcast free-to-air on the BBC.
BBC One Scotland will screen live coverage of Scotland’s international friendly at Craven Cottage against Nigeria on Wednesday, May 28, with the Super Eagles using the match as vital preparation for the World Cup finals.
Northern Ireland face a tough away trip to Montevideo to face England’s World Cup opponents Uruguay on Friday, 30 May, which will be broadcast nationwide on BBC Red Button and online via the BBC Sport website.
Finally, Wales travel to Amsterdam to play 2010 World Cup finalists the Netherlands in a friendly encounter which will be broadcast on BBC Two Wales and Welsh-language channel S4C on Wednesday, June 4.
Follow the road to Brazil across various UK networks. TV schedule below:
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