England fans panic over ‘curse’ as they realise Norway World Cup clash is on ITV | TV & Radio | Showbiz & TV

Football fans have been left fuming as they already predict a loss for England in the World Cup match this evening – before the match has even started. The Three Lions will be playing against Norway in the third quarter-final, which takes place at Miami Stadium in the USA, when they kick off at 10pm.

However, some fans have said that the game is “cursed” – and it’s all thanks to the game being aired on ITV. One savvy statistics sleuth took to social media to point out that, based on past figures, things aren’t looking good for England despite the Norwegians never making it to a World Cup quarter-final before. They wrote: “The #CurseofITV still hovers over England ahead of #NORENG tonight. We have double the #WorldCup win rate on BBC (16/25) than ITV (8/24). We have five wins in knockout games on BBC compared to just two on ITV (7 games each).”

They added their prediction as they penned: “We’ve exited the last THREE World Cups on ITV.”

Another person echoed: “Biennial reminder that England’s matches shouldn’t appear live on ITV #WorldCup #ITVCurse,” as they added a graphic showing the statistics of past games.

It showed that, from 1996 onwards, there have been 29 games on BBC and 31 on ITV. Of those games, 21 were won on BBC compared to just 9 on ITV.

The graphic also showed that ITV had seen 12 draws, whereas BBC saw only two but also aired 10 defeats, while BBC saw just six.

One more fan pointed out: “England lost the World Cup semi-final to Croatia on this day in 2018. They then lost the Euro 2020 final to Italy on this day in 2021. Third time lucky for July 11?”

To which another replied: “So therefore @England are soon set to go 0-3 live on ITV* on July 11th then? #CurseOfITV cc @DeanAyass *The Euro 2020 Final was simulcast on both ITV and BBC.”

However, other fans remain hopeful. One person wrote: “Praying today’s date isn’t going to be a curse, we went out to Croatia on 11th July 2018 WC semi final. Come on England. Let’s smash this! #worldcup #England.”

Another added: “England’s World Cup curse… still alive? England often has the talent, but pressure keeps ending the dream. Can this be the year it finally ends?”