England faces no tougher opponent at Euro 2016 than the nation's expectations

When England was pitted with Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup group stage, Football Association chief Greg Dyke was famously caught running his finger across his throat. It was an apt prediction, with a solitary point all manager Roy Hodgson took away from Brazil.

No such reaction was filmed during Saturday's Euro 2016 draw in Paris, and heads will certainly roll if the Three Lions fail to advance beyond the earliest stage. Russia, Slovakia and Wales, its little neighbour with lofty aspirations after advancing to its first major finals since the 1958 World Cup, joined top seed England to make up Group B's quartet.

Since the World Cup triumph in 1966, England has been dealt numerous cruel blows, with Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" in 1986 headlining a catalogue of heartbreaking exits in the 16 major tournaments since. Even the women's team was at it in 2015 - leaving the World Cup at the semi-final stage courtesy of a stoppage-time own goal from the previously unflappable Laura Bassett.

The Group

After uncharacteristically modest expectations through the last two tournaments, confidence for the men's team is again at fever pitch. The meteoric rise of Jamie Vardy, Tottenham's young legion fronted by Harry Kane, and Joe Hart finally being challenged by a quality goalkeeper in Jack Butland, will have pubs delirious for England's curtain-raiser against Russia on June 11 - fittingly staged on a Saturday night.

The next matchday will divide families and friends at homes in places like Chester, Welshpool and upon the eastern peaks of Brecon Beacons National Park, when Wales and England meet. They renew their rivalry in a tournament for the first time since the Dragons' 1-0 triumph in the British Home Championship of 1984. The competition was abolished that year due to numerous reasons, including crowd disorder.

Both sides would have preferred to have avoid one another in the group stage, but it is the first time in years where Wales has a real chance of trumping its uppity big brother. Gareth Bale is one of the greatest players in the world, while the likes of Aaron Ramsey and skipper Ashley Williams would plunder a multitude of England caps. It should be an intense battle in Lens, at the same ground where a David Beckham free-kick helped secure a 2-0 win against Colombia and advancement to the World Cup round of 16 in 1998.

England will conclude its group campaign against Slovakia in Saint-Etienne. Finishing the first stage of a major tournament against a supposedly inferior opponent is ideal - it's an opportunity to rest stars if progression is already secured, or a chance to secure an expected three points - and Hodgson should expect nothing less than a morale-boosting win to take his team into the knockout rounds.

If England's half of the draw is bereft of shocks, Portugal and Spain should be among those attempting to prevent its route to the final. The former spelled the end of England's tournaments in 2004 and 2006, but the duo from the Iberian Peninsula should pose slightly less of a threat than the likes of Germany, France and Belgium.

Whoever England faces in the group stage and beyond in France, Roy Hodgson knows what test he has to prepare his ranks for most thoroughly: the demands of 50 million people just 21 miles over the English Channel.